The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors will return to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) following an agreement reached at the six-party talks toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the IAEA head said Tuesday.

Speaking at a news conference with Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn in Luxembourg, Mohamed ElBaradei said the IAEA will resume inspections in the DPRK to "ensure that all nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes."

He did not give the time for the inspections, but said it would be discussed at a meeting of the Vienna-based agency's board of governors slated for March 6.

ElBaradei welcomed the agreement, saying the move is "a step in the right direction." "It is good news, this is the first part of the process," he added.

The IAEA chief also suggested it could serve as an example for ending the deadlock over the Iranian nuclear issue.

The six-party talks, involving the United States, DPRK, China, Russia, South Korea and Japan, ended in Beijing Tuesday with a joint statement on the first step toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

According to the document, the DPRK will shut down and seal the Yongbyon nuclear facility, including the reprocessing facility and invite back IAEA personnel to monitor and verify its actions.

The parties agreed to give the DPRK emergency energy assistance of 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil, starting within 60 days.

For irreversibly disabling the nuclear facility and declaring all nuclear programs, the DPRK will eventually receive another 950,000 tons of oil, according to the agreement.

The Korean Peninsula nuclear issue emerged in the early 1990s, prompting the IAEA to start inspecting the DPRK's possible nuclear program in May 1992. In December 2002, the DPRK announced that it would dismantle inspection cameras on frozen nuclear facilities and the IAEA stopped inspections in the country.

Source: Xinhua