UN inspectors leave DPRK

SEOUL: UN nuclear experts ordered to leave by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) amid an escalating standoff over the country's recent rocket launch departed the country yesterday.

Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) left the main site in Yongbyon north of Pyongyang after removing seals and surveillance cameras, a diplomat close to the UN agency said on Wednesday. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

They arrived in Beijing on a flight yesterday from Pyongyang, but declined to speak to reporters.

Four US experts monitoring the nuclear plant in Yongbyon also were preparing to depart after the DPRK ordered them out, the State Department said.

The expulsions come after the Security Council unanimously condemned the DPRK's April 5 rocket launch as a violation of previous resolutions barring Pyongyang from ballistic missile-related activity.

China urges restraint

China urged "calmness and restraint" yesterday from the six parties in the talks aimed at denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. The talks involve the DPRK, the US, the Republic of Korea, China, Russia and Japan.

"We expect all sides to take a far-sighted view of the big picture, exercise calmness and restraint and properly address related issues to ensure the six-party process and safeguard peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular briefing.

"It is all parties' consensus to advance the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through the Six-Party Talks. We would like to maintain communication with all parties on the issue," she said.

AP - Xinhua

(China Daily 04/17/2009 page11)