The team would act independently of nuclear inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) but would cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog if necessary, Japan's top-selling daily Yomiuri Shimbun said, quoting government sources.

The decision to launch the multilateral probe came after North Korea on Friday accepted a proposal to start six-nation talks to end the nuclear crisis.

The six parties include the United States and its allies, Japan and South Korea, and North Korea, along with China, Pyongyang's closest ally, and Russia.

With the presence of China and Russia in the team, the daily said North Korea would find it easier to accept nuclear inspections.

The team plans to inspect facilities in the nuclear complex at Yongbyon, north of Pyongyang, and other sites, including undeclared plutonium and uranium-enrichment plants, the Yomiuri said.

The nuclear crisis erupted in October when Washington accused the Stalinist state of reneging on a 1994 bilateral nuclear freeze accord by running a clandestine atomic programme based on enriched uranium.

Following the October revelations, the 1994 deal swiftly unravelled and the United States stopped fuel deliveries. North Korea then upped the stakes, kicking out IAEA monitors and withdrawing from the Non-Proliferation treaty.

Pyongyang has since claimed it has reprocessed 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods after reopening the Yongbyon nuclear complex, frozen under the 1994 pact.

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