The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is reportedly investigating Seoul's recent disclosure that South Korean researchers had conducted an experiment four years ago that led to the separation of a minute quantity of uranium.

The Ministry of Science and Technology in Seoul said in a statement Friday that a small group of scientists conducted the experiment on their own initiative in January and February in 2000.

The statement said the group had produced a small amount of 0.2 grams or 0.007 ounces, of uranium during the single secret experiment. The ministry added that experiment-related activities were terminated and the equipment used dismantled immediately afterward.

A group of IAEA inspectors arrived in South Korea on Sunday for a week-long visit after the Science Ministry submitted a report on the experiment to the agency last August in accordance with strengthened safeguard regulations.

A senior official of the Science Ministry said the experiments clearly did not constitute a violation of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), citing that they were not an attempt to build nuclear weapons.

The official stressed that Seoul is committed to the peaceful use of nuclear energy and non-proliferation of atomic weapons and that the government will take measures to prevent the reoccurrence of such incidents in the future.

South Korea has signed the NPT and the IAEA's Additional Protocol, which gives inspectors the right to conduct more intrusive, short-notice visits to nuclear sites than normal NPT safeguards permit.