Nuke inspectors returning to N. Korea

SEOUL, South Korea – U.N. nuclear inspectors will return Saturday to North Korea to monitor the shutdown of its sole operating nuclear reactor, the head of the agency said today.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei said upon his arrival in Seoul that the monitors were expected to travel Saturday and arrive in Pyongyang the same day. He said it was not known if the reactor could be shut down before the inspectors arrive.

“We will verify that they will shut it. Whether they shut it before or not, that is immaterial,” ElBaradei told reporters.

South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon said the monitors would arrive around the time that a shipment of oil from South Korea arrives Saturday, part of aid the North is to receive for eventually dismantling its nuclear weapons facilities.

North Korea has said it would shut down the reactor after receiving an initial shipment of oil under a February deal where it pledged to start dismantling its nuclear weapons program.

If the North shuts down the reactor, it would be the first move it has made to scale back its atomic weapons development since the nuclear standoff began in late 2002.