North Korea has authorised a US delegation to visit its Yongbyon nuclear complex next week, raising hopes of a breakthrough in the long-running dispute.

Such a visit would mark the first time foreign officials have been allowed inside the reclusive country's nuclear complex since United Nations inspectors were expelled on December 31, 2002.

The Bush Administration, which blocked a congressional delegation's visit to North Korea in October, approved the trip, scheduled for January 6 to 10, the USA Today newspaper reported today.

"The report is true, but we don't know what the US delegation will do in North Korea," an official at the South Korea Foreign Ministry said.

According to USA Today, the delegation would include Sig Hecker, a top nuclear scientist who from 1985-1997 directed the Los Alamos National Laboratory where the atomic bomb was first developed.

By inviting Mr Hecker to Yongbyon, the regime of Kim Jong-Il may want to prove that it has nuclear weapons as a way of bolstering a tough negotiating stance, the newspaper said.

It may also be trying to defuse tensions by showing that its nuclear sites will be open to inspection if a deal is reached, the report added.

Other members of the delegation will include a China expert from Stanford University, two US Senate foreign policy aides and a former State Department official who has negotiated with Pyongyang, the report said.

News of the US visit followed North Korea's recent announcement to the US Embassy in Beijing that it was ready to join delayed six-nation talks on the crisis sparked by its drive for nuclear weapons in October 2002.

The Yonhap news agency in Seoul quoted an unidentified South Korean Government official as saying that it was the first time that North Korea had agreed to show the Yongbyon complex to foreign visitors since the crisis began. He said that it could mark a turning point in the stand-off.

"This is a strong signal from North Korea that it has no intention to escalate the crisis any further," he was quoted as saying.

Another high-ranking government official noted that the delegation included a US expert on North Korean affairs and those who had influence on making decisions on US policies towars North Korea.

"Their visit to North Korea will have a positive influence on US policies toward Pyongyang," he was quoted as saying by Yonhap.