The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team will meet foreign ministry officials in charge of the nuclear issue on Friday and leave Saturday, a foreign ministry official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

He said the team is led by Kaluba Chitumbo, head of the IAEA's safeguards operations division for the Asia-Pacific.

Two of the four will go on to Pyongyang next week. They were expected to travel via Beijing since there are no scheduled flights between the two Koreas.

North Korea last Saturday invited the IAEA to send a team to discuss procedures for shutting down its Yongbyon reactor.

The shutdown is the first step in a six-nation February disarmament accord, which was delayed for months until a row over US financial sanctions was settled.

After the initial visit next week, an IAEA team is expected to return within weeks to monitor and verify the actual shutdown.

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