North Korea inivites UN delegation

North Korea has invited a delegation of the United Nations nuclear watchdog to visit the country in what could be a first step towards implementing an international agreement intended to curb its nuclear programme.

North Korean news agency KCNA said the head of the communist country's atomic energy department had written to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about discussions for verifying and monitoring "the suspension of the operations of nuclear facilities".

"A working-level delegation of the IAEA has been invited to visit," KCNA wrote in a report monitored in Singapore. An IAEA spokesman said the agency had not yet received the invitation.

There had been broad hopes the release of North Korean money being held in Macau could lead to a shutting down North Korea's ageing nuclear reactor and the return of international inspectors to the country.

Pyongyang had agreed these actions in exchange for fuel oil aid under an agreement reached on February 13th. The international community wants to discourage North Korea from developing nuclear weapons.

Implementation of the deal had stalled over the Macau funds, but some $20 million in released funds is on the way to North Korea under arrangements made in the last few days.

US envoy Christopher Hill told reporters in the Mongolian capital, Ulan Bator, that the money had been sent to Russia, but had yet to reach a North Korean bank account there due to technical problems.

North Korea appeared satisfied that the glitch would be resolved.

The KCNA statement said the "process of de-freezing the funds...has reached its final phase". Mr Hill had said he was confident that once it had the funds, North Korea would "then implement its part of the February agreement."