IAEA chief to visit Seoul for talks on N.K. nukes

The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog will visit Seoul this week to meet with Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and other officials on ways to denuclearize North Korea, the Foreign Ministry said Sunday.

The two-day visit starting on Tuesday by Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, will allow for serious discussions on the North Korean nuclear issue as the country threatens to conduct a nuclear and long-range rocket test, the ministry said in a statement.

The visit comes less than one month after the IAEA presented a resolution to call for North Korea's adherence to the six-party agreement for its denuclearization involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan.

The resolution was adopted unanimously by the 167-member nuclear watchdog in Vienna last month.

The meeting between Yun and Amano will also address ways for South Korea to enhance its role in securing global nuclear security, the ministry said.  

North Korea in recent months resolved to launch a long-range rocket and hinted at a possible nuclear test against what it called the United States' hostile policies against the North.

Pyongyang has been under sanctions imposed by U.N. resolutions for its nuclear and long-range rocket launches.

North Korea conducted nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013. (Yonhap)