North Korea Refuses Sampling at Nuclear Plants, Kyodo Reports

By Stuart Biggs

Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- North Korea's government won't allow the U.S. and other countries to take samples from its nuclear facilities, breaching a denuclearization agreement, Kyodo English News reported today.

North Korea will only allow inspectors to access its nuclear facilities, discuss documents on its atomic program and interview people related to the nuclear plans, Kyodo said, citing unidentified people familiar with the six-party disarmament talks.

The U.S. State Department said on Oct. 11 North Korea agreed to allow the countries involved in the talks -- China, South Korea, the U.S., Japan and Russia -- to take samples to verify the extent of the country's nuclear program.

North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun informed his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov of North Korea's stance at a meeting in Moscow on Oct. 15, Kyodo said. As a result, China is reluctant to set up the next round of talks in which the agreement was to be formalized, the report said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Stuart Biggs in Tokyo at sbiggs3@bloomberg.net