Brussels: InternationalAtomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors will return to North Koreafollowing a de-nuclearisation agreement reached at the six-party talks. 

Speaking at a news conference with Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn in Luxembourg, IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei said theIAEA would resume inspections in North Korea to ensure thatall nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes".

He did not give a time for the inspections, but said itwould be discussed at a meeting of the Vienna-based agency's board of governorsslated for March 6. 

The six-party talks - between the US, DPRK, China, Russia,South Korea and Japan - ended in Beijing Tuesday with a joint statement on thefirst step toward the de-nuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. 

According to the document, North Korea will shut down and sealthe Yongbyon nuclear facility, including the reprocessing facility and inviteback IAEA personnel to monitor and verify its actions.

ElBaradei welcomed the agreement, saying the move is "astep in the right direction." He added: "It is good news, this is thefirst part of the process."

The IAEA chief also suggested it could serve as an examplefor ending the deadlock over the Iranian nuclear issue.

The parties agreed to give North Korea emergency energyassistance of 50,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil, starting within 60 days.

For irreversibly disabling the nuclear facility anddeclaring all nuclear programmes, North Korea will eventually receiveanother 950,000 tonnes of oil, according to the agreement.

The Korean peninsula nuclear issue emerged in the early1990s, prompting the IAEA to start inspecting North Korea's possible nuclearprogramme in May 1992. In December 2002, it announced that it would dismantleinspection cameras on frozen nuclear facilities and the IAEA stoppedinspections in the country.