BANGKOK, Thailand - UN inspectors have verified that North Korea has shut down its nuclear reactor, the chief of the UN nuclear watchdog agency said Monday.

North Korea's spent nuclear fuel rods kept in a cooling pond are seen at the nuclear facilities in Yongbyon, North Korea, in this 1996 file photo, released from Yonhap, Feb. 7, 2003. [AP]

 "Our inspectors are there. They verified the shutting down of the reactor yesterday," said Mohamed ElBaradei, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency,

"The process has been going quite well and we have had good cooperation from North Korea. It's a good step in the right direction," ElBaradei said, speaking in Bangkok ahead of an event sponsored by Thailand's Ministry of Science.