Japan’s Kyodo News Agency says four inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Thursday morning were witnessed leaving Pyongyang for an airport after North Korea expelled them from its Yongbyon nuclear site the previous day.

The IAEA inspectors, who have been supervising the North’s dismantlement processes at the nuclear facilities, stayed at a hotel in Pyongyang on Wednesday as they prepared to leave for Vienna, Austria, the IAEA’s headquarters.

North Korea asked the inspectors on Wednesday to leave the country as soon as possible.

The move came one day after the United Nations Security Council adopted a presidential statement on the country's recent rocket launch, saying it was in violation of Security Council resolution 1718.