Pyongyang asks for removal of nuke seals, cameras: IAEA

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) yesterday asked the UN's nuclear watchdog to remove seals and cameras from its main atomic complex, the agency's chief said, after vowing to restart the facility - reversing a nuclear disarmament deal.

A senior diplomat close to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said seals had since been removed but did not elaborate. An IAEA official could not confirm that development and said efforts were being made to clarify the situation.

The DPRK said on Friday it was working on reactivating the plutonium-producing Yongbyon complex, the basis of its atomic bomb program, which it was dismantling previously under a much delayed disarmament-for-aid deal with five countries.