NORTH KOREA
On North Korea -- the meeting's other focus -- Japan and other countries urged Pyongyang to honor its commitments under a six-nation deal that ultimately commits it to scrap its nuclear weapons program. ElBaradei plans to go to North Korea on Tuesday as part of the agreement.
North Korea forced IAEA monitors to leave in late 2002, withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and reactivating its mothballed nuclear program.
The Feb. 13 deal reached in Beijing calls for North Korea to close its main nuclear complex in Yongbyon, north of Pyongyang, allow IAEA monitors back into the country to verify the closure, and then disable its nuclear facilities.
UN officials familiar with the North Korea file said the board will likely agree to meet in a special session once ElBaradei returns and -- if his report is positive -- formally authorize the return of IAEA inspectors to the North.
A US statement cautioned that Security Council sanctions remained in effect, urging all UN members to "continue to implement fully and effectively the provisions of the resolution."
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