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| Korea |
| N. Korea Reportedly Plans More Nukes |
| 2003-06-02 |
| EFL North Korea acknowledged it has nuclear weapons and plans to build more while repeating its demand for direct talks with the United States, a U.S. congressman said Monday after a visit to the communist nation. Rep. Curt Weldon, a Pennsylvania Republican who headed a delegation of American lawmakers on the three-day visit, said North Korean officials acknowledged they had nearly finished reprocessing spent fuel rods - a move that could yield more nuclear weapons within months. Refinished? They previously said they hadn't started. ``They admitted to having nuclear capability and weapons at this moment,'' said Weldon, vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. ``They admitted to an effort to expand their nuclear production program.'' In Washington, a State Department official expressed doubt about North Korea's claim that the reprocessing of spent fuel rods was nearly finished. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said U.S. intelligence suggests that the North Koreans have a long way to go before reprocessing is completed. North Korea acknowleded to U.S. officials last October that it had a uranium-based nuclear weapons program. In April, during talks in Beijing, the North acknowledged possession of nuclear weapons for the first time. The United States has believed that North Korea has had one and perhaps two nuclear weapons for years. U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said Monday the North's claims couldn't be verified but shouldn't be ignored. ``Certainly what we know suggests that we should take what they are saying Time to start tailing their ships and planes that leave the country. North Korea said it was developing its nuclear weapons as ``a response to what they saw happened in Iraq, with the U.S. removing Saddam Hussein from power,'' Weldon said in Seoul, a day after briefing South Korean officials about the trip. The congressional delegation plans to report their findings to Secretary of State Colin Powell and other Bush administration officials as well as U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Both sides sought to emphasize the friendly nature of the visit. Weldon said the delegation - the first American officials to visit since the nuclear crisis began - had ``candid'' talks in the North, and accomplished its goal of interacting ``as friends and human beings'' with North Koreans. "Sadly, however, with regard to the latter the North Koreans did not respond in kind." Weldon also said his delegation, which did not meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, was convinced the dispute can be peacefully resolved. The North's state-run news agency, KCNA, quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying the visit helped both sides better understand each other and expressing a desire to ``avert a confrontation.'' Weldon said the North asked for a meeting with Washington because it ``felt there were some things it could only discuss with the United States.'' On Sunday, at a summit in France of major industrial nations, President Bush said the United States continues to support only talks that also involve other regional powers. Bush also dismissed a proposal, conveyed by Chinese President Hu Jintao, from North Korea, agreeing to talks involving others if it could also meet separately with just the United States. North Korea has repeatedly accused Washington of planning to invade. Bush says he prefers a diplomatic solution, but has not ruled out a military option. U.S. and South Korean officials say that North Korea may be bluffing about its nuclear program to extract concessions from the United States. Who better to deliver the bluff than a Congressman? |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 That's it! I'm totally fed up! I need a break from Rantburg. I've reached the point of zero tolerance for any of these idiots, be they North Korean ranters, Iranian nuclear apologists, two-faced French worms, or celebrity morons. George Bush has my blessing to kick every last one of them in the behind. The sooner the better. |
| Posted by: Tom 2003-06-02 21:21:08 |