N. Korea ejects IAEA inspectors from Yongbyon nuclear facilities+

VIENNA, April 15 Kyodo - North Korea has ejected International Atomic Energy Agency staff from nuclear facilities at Yongbyon and has removed seals from the facilities, an IAEA diplomatic source said Wednesday.
IAEA inspectors have been monitoring the nuclear facilities since July 2007 on
the basis of an agreement reached at the six-party talks on the North's
denuclearization.
It is the first time that IAEA inspectors have been evicted on the basis of
that accord, although some of the seals were removed in September last year,
according to the source.
The three IAEA inspectors were still in North Korea as of Wednesday, the source
said. They are expected to leave the country as early as Thursday, Reuters
reported.
North Korea on Tuesday ordered U.S. nuclear experts engaged in disablement work
at the facilities and the IAEA inspectors who were monitoring their work to
leave the country as soon as possible, while also announcing a suspension of
all collaboration with the IAEA.
North Korea's announcement came right after the U.N. Security Council on Monday
condemned the country's rocket launch on April 5.
Pyongyang also requested the removal of all seals and surveillance cameras and
it is believed that the North notified them of the ''restart all of the nuclear
facilities and that it will resume reprocessing of spent fuel.''
The U.N. nuclear watchdog was monitoring five facilities at the Yongbyon
nuclear complex, including the 5,000-kilowatt graphite-moderated reactor for
experimental use and a reprocessing facility.
The nuclear complex is located about 90 kilometers north of Pyongyang.
The six-party talks involving the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the
United States have stalled since December over ways to verify Pyongyang's
nuclear programs.