North Korea moves step closer to bomb
North Korea today said it was successfully reprocessing more than 8,000 spent fuel rods, a procedure US experts say would give the communist state enough plutonium for several nuclear bombs.
The move dramatically ups the stakes in talks with the United States – which could take place as early as next week in Beijing – on the North’s suspected nuclear weapons programmes.
“As we have already declared, we are successfully reprocessing more than 8,000 spent fuel rods,” a spokesman for Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry said, adding that the North was in the “final phase” of the process.
Washington believes North Korea already has one or two nuclear bombs.
US officials believe Pyongyang can extract enough plutonium from the fuel rods to make six to eight bombs within months.
US, North Korea and Chinese officials plan to meet as early as next week in Beijing to try to end the dispute over North Korea’s suspected development of nuclear weapons.
“At the talks the Chinese side will play a relevant role as the host state and the essential issues related to the settlement of the nuclear issue will be discussed between the DPRK and the US,” the spokesman said.
DPRK stands for Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the North’s official name.
Pyongyang had previously insisted only on one-on-one talks with Washington. Last week, North Korea indicated it could accept US demands for multilateral talks and agreed to let China sit at the table.
North Korea has been accusing Washington of plotting an invasion, and demanded a nonaggression treaty.
The dispute flared in October when U.S. officials said North Korea admitted having a secret nuclear weapons programme in violation of a 1994 deal with Washington.
Washington and its allies suspended oil shipments to North Korea promised under the 1994 deal.
Pyongyang retaliated by taking steps to reactivate frozen nuclear facilities capable of making nuclear bombs and withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
