North Korea to Allow Nuke Inspectors

North Korea Saturday invited nuclear inspectors to return and monitor the shutdown of its primary atomic reactor.

The invitation was issued to the International Atomic Energy Agency after more than $20 million in North Korean funds were transferred from a bank in Macau, China, to a bank in Russia, where North Korea has an account, CNN reported.

The frozen funds were thawed as part of an agreement to get North Korea to halt its nuclear program. In all, $25 million had been frozen in Macau in 2005 at the request of the United States, which claimed some of the money came from illegal activities.

North Korea also is to receive energy assistance equivalent to 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil in exchange for closing its Yongbyon reactor and letting the inspectors back into the country to monitor the process, CNN reported.