VIENNA — The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced Thursday that it will help Japan in "enhancing nuclear security measures" for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

A cooperation agreement between the UN agency’s director Yukiya Amano and Japanese foreign minister Taro Kono was signed in Vienna, where the IAEA is based.

"The possible areas of cooperation include the IAEA offering Japanese authorities training courses, workshops, technical visits and exercises related to nuclear security, hosting preparatory technical meetings and lending supplementary radiation detection equipment," the IAEA said in a statement.

"The know-how of the agency will boost the security of the Games," Japan’s foreign ministry spokesman Norio Maruyama said..

While the agreement is not directly related to a nuclear threat from North Korea, "the uncertainty exists and we must use all means necessary to eliminate this uncertainty", he added.

The IAEA regularly works to ensure nuclear safety at major international events and has already been called upon in the preparations for the 2016 Rio Olympics and Euro 2012 football in Ukraine and Poland. — AFP