(MENAFN- Trend News Agency ) International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Yukiya Amano said Thursday that North Korea is a global threat, more today than ever, reports.
"Our inspectors were requested to leave in April 2009 ... after that we don't have inspectors on the ground, but we continue to monitor the nuclear programs of North Korea by using satellite imagery and collecting open source information, and we have observed the progress in the nuclear program in North Korea in particular in the city of Yongbyon," he told CBS News on Thursday.
Amano, since last summer, has organized a team at the agency, ready to be on the ground "on short notice" if there is a diplomatic resolution.
We think our involvement is indispensable, verification is a very important part," Amano said, "We have experts, it's a small team, but expertise is very, very important, and these are the people who were in North Korea before, so we don't want to lose the knowledge."
North Korea, formally known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), announced its withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003. In recent years, the nuclear tests and missile launches have advanced its nuclear program dramatically.
Speaking in Seoul on the achievements of South Korea and the oppression of the North Korean government, President Trump pivoted from fiery threats against the government of Kim Jong Un, to an open offer to negotiate the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
In China, Mr. Trump implored its newly-strengthened leader Xi Jinping, for more help to reign in Kim Jong Un's nuclear ambitions.
Amano said that, this past summer, he created North Korea "team" at the IAEA, to be ready to go back to North Korea, when and if the time comes, including training of inspectors and creating a possible verification plan.
That said, Amano has been dark in his assessment about the threats posed by the government in Pyongyang: "The nuclear test it conducted in September, its sixth and largest to date, was extremely regrettable."
Despite the defiance of North Korean leaders, the sanctions and tough enforcement are beginning to have an impact. Amano says that the IAEA is already observing North Korea, collecting all the information available, including satellite imagery and vessel tracking software.
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