UN nuclear chief says work in N. Korea could resume quickly

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June 03 2018 11:58 PM

CP1127928615 — Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Yukiya Amano of Japan, waits for the start of the IAEA board of governors meeting at the International Center in Vienna, Austria, Monday, June 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak)

Original Publication Date: June 3, 2018 11:58PM

Publication Updated: April 23, 2025 6:10AM

VIENNA – The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog says the agency could resume work in North Korea “within weeks” to verify any possible agreement between Washington and Pyongyang.

Plans are advancing for a June 12 nuclear weapons summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano said Monday that the agency would be ready “promptly” to undertake any activities requested of it.

Amano told reporters in Vienna, where the agency is based: “We will be able to resume our verification activities at short notice, within weeks, not months, once (governing) board authorization is given.”

He said “it is very clear that if there is anybody, any organization, that can do the verification, it is only us, the IAEA.”