By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors, who monitored the disablement of a nuclear facility in North Korea, have left the site with surveillance cameras switched off on Pyongyang's demand, according to reports Wednesday.
The North's reaction came after the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) adopted a statement to condemn the April 5 rocket launch and impose sanctions.
Earlier, the secretive state vowed to quit the six-party denuclearization talks and restore nuclear facilities in response to the U.N. condemnation.
The United States slammed North Korea's decisions to expel the four-member IAEA team and boycott the six-party talks, calling them a ``step backward.''
``The North is going to have to deal with the consequences of such decisions. And they just bring upon themselves further isolation from the international community,'' a State Department spokesman said.
Experts on North Korea-related issues expressed concern, viewing the current situation as a reprise of the 2002 expulsion.
Pyongyang evacuated IAEA monitoring agents from the Yongbyon facility in December 2002 after it was accused of having a secret uranium-enrichment program.
Two years ago, it allowed them to return to its territory under a six-party disarmament accord promising fuel oil assistance from China, Russia, South Korea, the United States and Japan.
However, the process has been suspended since last year due to disaccord over ways of verifying nuclear activities.
In the meantime, Japan and the United States have submitted to the United Nations a list of North Korean companies which are believed to be involved in a weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) program, according to diplomatic sources.
Yet, it remains uncertain which companies are on the list.
The UNSC has sought to freeze assets or bank accounts of blacklisted North Korean organizations, if they are held abroad.
The UNSC sanctions committee is expected to review the list and finalize it on April 30 at the latest.
North Korea has tried to justify the recent launch of what it claimed a ``communications satellite,'' defending its right to explore space.
The international society, however, claimed its rocket launch was a clear violation of the U.N. Resolution 1718 which forbids North Korea from testing missiles and nuclear weapons.