The head of the UN's nuclear watchdog said today he wanted the return of UN inspectors to North Korea to be part of any deal aimed at resolving the nuclear standoff.
Six-country talks in Beijing over North Korea's nuclear programme ended without agreement last month, although all parties said they planned to meet again.
Pyongyang expelled the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) inspectors on New Year's Eve and later withdrew from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the global pact aimed at stopping the spread of nuclear weapons.
"The six-party talks that recently took place in Beijing were clearly a step in the right direction," IAEA chief Mr Mohamed ElBaradei said in the written text of his opening speech to a week-long meeting of the IAEA's board of governors in Vienna.
"I trust that any future settlement will ensure the return [of North Korea] to the non-proliferation regime," Mr ElBaradei said.
He added that he expected any deal would grant him "the necessary authority" to send his inspectors back to the reclusive Stalinist state.
The North Korean crisis erupted in October when US officials said Pyongyang admitted to a clandestine programme to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons, violating its agreements with the United States and its NPT obligations.
Since then, tension has risen over the rejuvenation of a nuclear programme in a Stalinist country branded part of an "axis of evil" by US President George W. Bush, along with Iran and pre-war Iraq.