U.N. urges N. Korea to dump nukes
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(CNN) -- The U.N. nuclear agency has called for North Korea to scrap its nuclear weapons program and agree to international oversight of its activities.
The general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency, meeting in Vienna, adopted a resolution calling for North Korea "to completely dismantle any nuclear weapons program in a prompt, transparent, verifiable and irreversible manner, maintaining the essential verification role of the IAEA."
In an IAEA statement posted on the organization's Web site Friday, the agency urged North Korea "to promptly accept comprehensive IAEA safeguards and cooperate with the agency in their full and effective implementation.
"IAEA inspectors were forced to pull out of the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) in December 2002 and remain unable to verify North Korea's nuclear program."
The resolution was adopted by consensus.
Member states "stressed the desire for a peaceful resolution through dialogue to the DPRK nuclear issue that would lead to a nuclear-weapon-free Korean Peninsula, and contribute positively to regional and global peace and security," the statement said.
It said the six-party talks in Beijing in August over the crisis were "a clear step in the right direction."
