Seoul: South Korea said today that inspectors probing North Korea's nuclear history must be allowed to collect sample material, despite Pyongyang's rejection of the process.

In the latest dispute to hit a six-nation disarmament deal, North Korea said yesterday it had never agreed to let inspectors take samples from its atomic plants.

The US State Department insisted that the North did consent to sampling. The dispute over ways to verify the North's declared nuclear programme is just the latest hurdle in tortuous negotiations, which began in 2003 and have often come close to breakdown.

South Korea's Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan said Seoul had pointed out ambiguities surrounding verification methods in an agreement reached in early October between Washington and Pyongyang.

"Washington itself admitted a lot of ambiguities exist," Yu told parliament. "We'll take our time to gauge the North's intentions. Through consultations with other countries, we will ensure that sampling is an essential part of verification," he said.

Yu stressed that the North did not intend to leave the six-party process. Earlier in the day Yu described the North's sampling ban as disappointing.

"The sampling issue is the core focus of the verification measure," he told local editors. "The US and North Korea held their recent talks on this understanding."

Yu said South Korea's nuclear envoy Kim Sook and his US counterpart Christopher Hill held telephone talks earlier Thursday on Pyongyang's stance.

Source : PTI