"North Korea ordered International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors out of the country Tuesday. The decision ends international monitoring of a research reactor at Yongbyon and in theory could allow reprocessing of fuel rods to produce plutonium.
The on-again, off-again inspections at the 5-megawatt Experimental Nuclear Reactor Plant and the Nuclear Fuel Fabrication Plant at Yongbyon resumed in October, soon after the U.S. announced it would remove North Korea from the State Department list of countries that sponsor terrorism.
In a statement an IAEA spokesman said North Korea informed IAEA inspectors at Yongbyon that it will immediately cease cooperation with the IAEA and asked the IAEA to remove its containment and surveillance equipment. North Korea announced a plan to reactivate all its nuclear facilities and resume reprocessing of nuclear fuel, the IAEA statement said. The IAEA inspectors have been asked to leave North Korea at the earliest possible time.
Diplomatic tensions with North Korea increased in March with the arrest of two U.S. journalists. Relations worsened again earlier this month following a North Korean rocket launch. North Korea said the launch was for peaceful purposes. North Korea said Tuesday it will boycott the six-party talks with the U.S., China, Russia, Japan and South Korea discussing the future of its nuclear program.
North Korea announced the move just a few hours after the United Nations Security Council in New York voted to criticize the launch with a statement. That penalty carries less diplomatic weight than resolutions the council passed after North Korea separately tested a long-range missile and a nuclear device in 2006."
WSJMr. 0Bama, were patiently waiting for your non-response.
