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North Korea Special Collection
IAEA-North Korea: Nuclear Safeguards and Inspections 1977-1989
1977-89 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97-99
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20 July 1977
North Korea signs a "Type 66" agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The agreement allows the IAEA to monitor the Soviet-supplied 2MW IRT-research reactor and 0.1MW critical assembly located at Yongbyon.
Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., Jane’s Intelligence Review, September 1991, p.406.
12 December 1985
North Korea signs the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). Under the provisions of the NPT, North Korea has 18 months to negotiate and sign a safeguards agreement with the IAEA.
Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., Jane’s Intelligence Review, September 1991, p.409; Don Oberdorfer, The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History, (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1997), p.254.
Mid-1987
The IAEA learns that it has mistakenly sent the wrong safeguards agreement document to North Korea. The agreement sent is designed for individual sites rather than for general inspections. Due to its error, the IAEA grants North Korea another 18 months to negotiate and sign a safeguards agreement.
Don Oberdorfer, The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History, (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1997), pp.254-255.
May 1988
The IAEA conducts inspections of the Soviet-supplied 2MW IRT-research reactor at Yongbyon.
Song Yong-sun, Vantage Point, August 1991, pp.1-10.
December 1988
The deadline for North Korea to negotiate and sign the IAEA safeguards agreement passes. North Korea makes no attempt to sign the agreement.
Don Oberdorfer, The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History, (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1997), p.255.
June 1989
The IAEA conducts inspections of the Soviet-supplied 2MW IRT-research reactor at Yongbyon.
Song Yong-sun, Vantage Point, August 1991, pp.1-10.
July 1989
US Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney demands that North Korea place all its nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards.
Hanguk Ilbo (Seoul), 22 August 1989, p.2.
19 July 1989
The IAEA trains North Koreans in methods used to locate and mine uranium deposits.
John J. Fialka, Wall Street Journal, 19 July 1989, p.16.
September 1989
US Secretary of State James A. Baker and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze meet to discuss suspicions that North Korea has a nuclear weapons program. During the meeting, Baker expresses concern about North Korea’s research reactor, as well as the fact that it has not signed the IAEA safeguards agreement.
Michael R. Gordon, New York Times, 25 October 1989, p.A4.
September 1989
At an IAEA meeting, Japanese and Australian officials emphasize the need for North Korea to sign the IAEA safeguards agreement. The Soviet Union calls for all NPT signatories to sign IAEA safeguards.
Michael R. Gordon, New York Times, 25 October 1989, p.A4.
October 1989
North Korea says that the establishment of the Korean Peninsula as a nuclear-weapons-free zone is a precondition before it can sign the IAEA safeguards agreement.
O Tae-chin, Chosun Ilbo (Seoul), 3 April 1990, p.2.
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Acknowledgements:
Brooke Milton and Gaurav Kampani
© Center for Nonproliferation Studies,
Monterey Institute of International Studies
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