A satellite image of the Yongbyon facility in North Korea

SEOUL, January 2 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - North Korea has authorized a U.S. delegation, which includes a top nuclear scientist, to visit its Yongbyon nuclear complex next week, according to reports confirmed Friday, January 2, by a South Korean Foreign Ministry official.

The USA Today daily newspaper reported Friday that the visit, scheduled for January 6-10, had been approved by the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush. It attributed the story to members of the delegation, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"The report is true, but we don't know what the U.S. delegation will do in North Korea," the official told AFP, on condition of anonymity.

The first foreign visit to North Korea's controversial nuclear facilities since U.N. inspectors were expelled by the communist nation a year ago also includes a China expert from Stanford University.

Two U.S. Senate foreign police aides and a former State Department official who has negotiated with Pyongyang are also in the delegation.

According to USA Today, the nuclear scientist on the delegation is Sig Hecker, who from 1985-1997 directed the Los Alamos National Laboratory where the atomic bomb was first developed.

News of the U.S. delegation's visit follows North Korea's recent announcement to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing that it was ready to join delayed six-nation talks on the crisis sparked by its drive for nuclear weapons in October 2002.

Yonhap news agency in Seoul quoted an unidentified South Korean government official as saying that it was the first time that North Korea has agreed to show the Yongbyon complex to foreign visitors since the crisis began.

"This is a strong signal from North Korea that it has no intention to escalate the crisis any further," he was quoted as saying.

Pyongyang said it was ready to join the talks early next year, after a deadlock scotched hopes for a resumption of dialogue in December, U.S. officials said earlier this week.

The first round of six-way talks ended inconclusively in Beijing in August, with North Korea later dismissing the negotiations as "useless".

The second round had been expected in Beijing this month but was pushed into 2004 due to differences over the steps needed towards a settlement.

Washington has demanded that Pyongyang unilaterally scrap its nuclear program, while North Korea has insisted on a legally binding security guarantee from the United States in return for a nuclear climb-down.