US Defines North Korea`s Reprocessing of Spent Fuel Rods as Grave Concern

Both of US Congress and the Bush administration expressed a grave concern yesterday over North Korea`s reprocessing of the spent fuel rods.

US Press Secretary Scott McClellan, in his first briefing, confirmed that North Korea has finished up reprocessing of the spent fuel rods and said, "Obviously, you never take any options off the table, but we seek a diplomatic solution."

"It`s something that we will work to address. … We will remain in close contact with South Korea, Japan, China and others to address this and find a solution," said White House spokesperson McClellan.

He stressed that the Bush administration does not exclude the possibility of a preemptory strike on North Korea. He also emphasized that the United States would not cave in to North Korea`s blackmailing, and would not give anything in advance to induce the isolated regime to dialog.

State Department spokesperson Richard Boucher stated that reprocessing is for extraction of weapons-grade plutonium. Then, he defined reprocessing itself as a strong indication of the North Korean regime`s concentration on building-up of nuclear weapons.

Likewise, on the Capitol Hill, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman John Warner diagnosed that the nuclear crisis over the Korean Peninsula has been deteriorated and reached a very serious degree. He also stressed that the crisis should be resolved through multilateral talks.

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (Dem. from South Dakota) also expressed a grave concern over North Korea`s nuclear ambition, and said that the isolated regime`s pursuance of its nuclear ambition may cause a serious problem not only to Asian countries, but also to the United States.

The Bush administration said Tuesday it would try to use diplomacy to deal with North Korea`s claim that it has produced enough plutonium for about a half-dozen nuclear bombs, reported USA Today. A CIA official, insisting on anonymity, confirmed that the CIA detected the krypton gas in the air over North Korea.

maypole@donga.com