NK Resumes Operation of Nuclear Facilities

North Korea`s Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Dec. 12, which said it would resume operation and construction of nuclear facilities soon, canceling freezing of its nuclear programs which was required under the Geneva Agreed Framework between the US and North Korea in return for provision of two light water reactors and heavy oil.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman said because the US decided to cut off heavy oil supplies, which was stated in the basic agreement, on the 14th last month and actually cut off from December, the North`s resumption of nuclear facilities was inevitable, according to the Korean Central News Agency of DPRK.

Though it is not confirmed whether the North actually unsealed nuclear facilities, following the statement, in effect, the Geneva Agreed Framework between the US and North Korea is on the brink of collapse.

South Korea and the US have not made any comment on the North foreign ministry`s statement yet. However, the South Korean government held an emergency meeting of the National Security Council in order to come up with countermeasures.

The North Korean spokesman argued, "The heavy oil supply is not aid to us. It is what the US should do in order to offset electricity shortage resulting from the freeze of atomic power plants, which were in operation or under construction. But the US gave up its duty by cutting-off."

He continued, "The US is ensuring the public that it cut off the oil shipment because we violated the arms-control accord first in our admission of a nuclear development program. But the US was against the letter and spirits of the accord when it designated us as `part of an axis of evil,` that is, object of a preemptive strike."

The North Korean spokesman also said that "The North`s admission of its nuclear weapons program is the US`s literal interpretation of what we said after US special envoy James Kelly`s visit to Pyongyang. We don`t feel the need to make any comment on this."

But the spokesman stressed, "We has been maintained that the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula should be resolved in a peaceful manner. The issue of freezing nuclear facilities again heavily depends on the US."

Young-Sik Kim Dong-Ki Sung spear@donga.com esprit@donga.com