NK Reveals Nuclear Weapons Development

The US confirmed on the 17th that North Korea possesses nuclear weapons and reiterated that it would address the nuke issue in a peaceful manner while demanding that the Stalinist country give up the nuclear weapons development program.

US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said in a briefing at the Pentagon that he believed North Korea possesses a small number of nuclear weapons. He quoted the Central Intelligence Agency(CIA) as saying that North Korea might produce one or two nuclear weapons after the early 1990s.

French news agency AFP and British daily newspaper Daily Telegraph quoted a US government official as saying that North Korea possesses two nuclear weapons. According to these media, the US official said that the US thinks that North Korea produced sufficient amount of plutonium needed to produce one or two nuclear weapons before 1994, when the US and North Korea agreed on the Basic Framework.

Defense Secretary Rumsfeld said that the verification of the nuclear inspection cannot be a solution as North Korea acknowledged that it violated four nuclear pacts. His remarks indicates that the US would skip the nuclear inspection on North Korea`s nuclear facilities and demand that North Korea immediately discard its nuclear program.

New York Times reported that intelligence officials in the US concluded that Pakistan has provided most of the core equipment for its nuclear program. "Pakistan`s provision of the equipment including centrifugal separators used to produce weapons-grade uranium was part of the trade conducted after the late 1990s, in which North Korea provided missiles for Pakistan so that the country could respond to India`s nuclear weapons."

Washington Post reported that US intelligence analysts suspect that Hagap in North Korea as the most likely nuclear site that develops enriched uranium nuclear weapons.

US President Bush said on the 17th that it was troubling and sobering news that North Korea admitted that it has planned to develop nuclear weapons and that he would discuss this issue when he meets with his Chinese counterpart next week.

White House spokesman Scott Mclellan said that President Bush decided to deal with the issue through a diplomatic channel, adding, "We are seeking a peaceful solution."

Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro said yesterday that peace and security on the Korean peninsula is very pivotal to the national interest of Japan and Japan would take up issue with North Korea`s nuclear program at the upcoming normalization talks with North Korea slated for late this month.

Intelligence sources in Seoul said yesterday that the US captured evidence that North Korea has attempted to develop nuclear weapons in three or four occasions since the Geneva Agreement in 1994.

The sources also said that after picking up North Korea`s plan to purchase finished plutonium needed to develop nuclear weapons, the US concluded that the Communist sated has not given up nuclear development plan. The sources added that the US has regarded North Korea`s move to develop enriched uranium as one to develop nuclear weapons.

But a government official said with regards to North Korea`s nuclear development stage that North Korea has yet to conduct uranium-enriching experiment, but it purchased core parts needed for a centrifugal separator from a third country.

He emphasized, “North Korea`s nuclear development program using enriched uranium has yet to be in an experiment stage. Thus we should understand North Korea`s nuclear technology is still in its infancy.”

“It is difficult to figure out whether North Korea really possesses nuclear weapons or not,” said the official, “If the country experimented with the nuclear explosion, which is necessary to possess nuclear weapons, it can be detected by a seismic wave or airwave, but there has been no such signs.”

Ki-Heung Han Eun-Taek Hong eligius@donga.com euntack@donga.com