WASHINGTON, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The United States expressed welcome on Monday over the decision by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to invite Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to visit the country.

    "We are very pleased that the North Koreans have extended this invitation," State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said at a briefing.

    The positive step should lead to the shutdown of the nuclear facility at Yongbyan under the deal reached during the six-party talks on Feb. 13, Casey said.

    Earlier Tuesday, ElBaradei arrived in Pyongyang to discuss and finalize the details of the Feb. 13 agreement reached at the six-party talks last month in Beijing.

    During last month's six-party talks in Beijing, the DPRK agreed to give up its nuclear weapons program and to shut down its Yongbyan reactor by mid-April.

    Soon after the talks in Beijing, ElBaradei said on Feb. 23 that DPRK had invited him to visit within the next few weeks for talks on its nuclear program.