NKorea invites UN nuke monitors to return

VIENNA (AP) — The U.N. nuclear watchdog says it has received an invitation from North Korea to resume monitoring parts of its atomic program.

The overture from Pyongyang was confirmed by Gill Tudor, spokeswoman for the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The move, announced Monday, comes amid increased international tensions generated by North Korea's announcement last week that it planned to test a rocket by launching a satellite.

Tudor said her agency received the invitation on Friday — the same day the North announced the planned launch. She declined to go into details on what North Korea's terms were.

The North agreed to a nuclear moratorium with Washington last month, but its planned missile launch has tarnished hopes that the deal will be realized.