The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) annual meeting on Friday urged the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to cooperate unconditionally and return to the six-party talks promptly.

A resolution regarding the implementation of IAEA safeguards on the DPRK was adopted without the procedure of voting at the 50th Annual Regular Session of the IAEA General Conference.

The resolution said that the IAEA General Conference "supports the six-party talks," calling on the DPRK to promptly return to the talks.

Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the IAEA, said in a statement that the six-party talks "aimed to completely solve the Korean Peninsula's nuclear issue."

The resolution "calls upon the DPRK to cooperate promptly with the Agency in the full and effective implementation of IAEA safeguards" and "to comply fully with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons."

The resolution highlighted a "peaceful resolution through dialogue" to the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula, leading to a nuclear-weapon-free Korean Peninsula, with a view to maintaining peace and security in the region.

Since the end of December 2002, when IAEA verification activities were terminated at the request of the DPRK, "the Agency has been unable to draw any conclusions regarding the DPRK's nuclear activities," said ElBaradei in his report on the Korean Peninsula's nuclear issue.

He said that the IAEA "stands ready to work with the DPRK -- and with all others -- towards a solution that addresses the needs of the international community to ensure that all nuclear activities in the DPRK are exclusively for peaceful purposes, while addressing the security and other concerns of the DPRK."

The five-day IAEA annual meeting, which ended on Friday at the Austria Center in the Austrian capital of Vienna, was attended by high-level delegates from the body's 140 member states.

Source: Xinhua