The IAEA, the nuclear watchdog of the UN, will meet soon on the North Korean nuclear crisis and possibly refer the matter to the UN Security Council, a spokesman said this evening.
Diplomats said the 35-member board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have after intense negotiations prepared a resolution that will refer the matter to the Security Council.
The US has been insisting that North Korea's decision to pull out of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) after expelling IAEA inspectors be referred without delay to the council, which could impose sanctions.
The Vienna-based IAEA announced at midday that the governors had agreed to meet here on February 3rd, but said later that the date was still under discussion while a diplomat added that South Korea had called for a delay.
An IAEA representative said there had been a "misunderstanding. Intense consultations are going on. It was basically a misunderstanding on the part of the board chairman. She thought consensus was reached and there was not," an IAEA spokeswoman said.
A UN official told AFP the meeting would "probably take place after February 3rd" at the request of South Korea which wants more time to pursue diplomatic efforts to end the three-month-old crisis.
"I do not see that there will be any big problem with the resolution. Everybody pretty much agrees on the approach. It is just a matter of timing," he added.
South Korean representatives to the UN were not immediately in a position to comment.
AFP