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BEIJING : The leader of the UN inspection team to oversee the planned shutdown of North Korea's atomic reactor arrived in Beijing Monday, on his way to Pyongyang.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) deputy director general for safeguards Olli Heinonen landed at Beijing airport shortly before 9:00 am (0100 GMT), according to reporters there.
He is due to lead an IAEA team into Pyongyang on Tuesday, the agency said in a statement earlier. It will be the first time the UN inspectors have returned to North Korea since being kicked out almost five years ago.
The agency said last week North Korea had invited inspectors back in to "discuss the modalities for verification and monitoring by the IAEA of the shutdown of the Yongbyon nuclear facility."
The Yongbyon reactor is at the core of the North's nuclear programme.
The mission is in line with a February deal struck by negotiators from six nations under which Pyongyang promised to shut down the site in exchange for badly needed energy aid and diplomatic concessions.
It also follows a landmark visit to Pyongyang on Thursday by chief US envoy Christopher Hill, the most senior US official to visit the communist North in nearly five years.
- AFP/ir
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