Possibility of N.K.’s Nuclear Weapons Used in Strikes on S.K.

Though North Korea say that it should make up for the loss of electricity to justify their act of removing seals, there is a possibility that in some situation the communist country will actually produce weapons-grade plutonium to develop nuclear bombs, said Korean defense minister Lee Jun on Dec. 28.

At the National Assembly’ defense committee meeting on that day, Mr. Lee said, "It was not confirmed yet whether Pyongyang had developed tactical nuclear weapons. However, we fully acknowledge the possibility of the North using them as offensive arms toward the South if it has such weapons, so we has established a contingency plan to strike the North."

He continued, "The North see that the United States is trying to collapse the communist regime on the excuse of the North’s nuclear weapons development. Though there is no special move noticeable in the North Korean military at present, the Korea-US combined forces will maintain military preparedness to the extent of not giving the North an excuse for aggression."

With respect to US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s saying that the US can conduct two wars at once, Mr. Lee said that it was a comment in principle that stresses the US’s preparedness in its worldwide anti-terrorism war along with its preparation for military strikes on Iraq. He added that the US secretary’s comment would not mean military punishment plans.

Seung-Heon Lee ddr@donga.com