Beijing - North Korea could restart its main nuclear facility within months, the UN's international nuclear watchdog said Monday.

North Korea must also be regarded as a nuclear power, Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in Beijing.

"North Korea has nuclear weapons, which is a matter of fact," ElBaradei said.

He called for a quick return to negotiations with the totalitarian state.

"We need to find a solution before they go into building their nuclear power arsenal," ElBaradei said.

Six-nation talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons programme have been stalled since late last year over a dispute on verifying North Korea's progress in fulfilling its pledge to disable its nuclear facilities.

Last week, North Korea said it was withdrawing from the talks between it and the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and Russia. It also ordered IAEA inspectors out of the country.

It had been in the process of disabling its nuclear facility in Yongbyon, 100 kilometres north of Pyongyang.

"We don't know how far they dismantled," ElBaradei said, adding North Korea could restart the facility in "a matter of months." (dpa)