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NKorea says Japan on verge of having nuclear weapons
North Korea Saturday claimed Japan was about to possess nuclear weapons, in its latest attack on one of the countries preparing to meet next week to discuss the impasse over Pyongyangâs own atomic ambitions.The report on North Koreaâs state news agency KCNA charged that Japan had secretly pursued a nuclear capability while the worldâs focus was on other countriesâ arms proliferation.Since Japan is one of the most stable of all Asian economies, Iâll continue to remain a lot more worried about some wingnut like Kim playing with matches in a powder magazine. "Japanâs nuclear weaponization has been pushed ahead at the phase of practical implementation, going beyond the stage of discussion," the report said. "As a result, there are ample conditions for the descendents of Samurais buoyed by fever for reinvasion to have access to nuclear weapons any moment." Preliminary negotiations take place next week in Beijing aimed at clearing the way for a new round of six-nation discussions on the issue of Pygongyangâs alleged nuclear weapons programme. If there was one single driving factor that inspired Japan to begin construction of nuclear weapons, it was the overflight of North Koreaâs Taepo-Dong One missile test immediately prior to South Koreaâs presidental inauguration. Two rounds of the talks -- involving the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States -- have so far failed to narrow differences between the United States and North Korea. Japan, the only country in the world to have experienced a nuclear attack, has a number of nuclear power stations but is a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. However, the KCNA report added: "It is a serious miscalculation and foolish dream if Japan thinks it can hide truth behind its nuclear issue and achieve its wild ambition for nuclear armament by hyping otherâs ânuclear issueâ." POT -> KETTLE -> BLACK Japan and North Korea last week renewed talks over the kidnapping of Japanese citizens by the Stalinist state in the 1970s and 1980s. Tokyo has been pushing Pyongyang to allow the relatives of five returned Japanese abductees to settle in Japan. Posted by: Zenster 2004-05-10 |
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