N. Korea says steps taken to boost nuke arsenal

South calls for halt to actions
The South Korean Foreign Ministry expressed “serious concern” at the development.

“North Korea should immediately halt actions that have a negative impact” on efforts to resume disarmament talks, the ministry said, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency. “We strongly urge North Korea to return to the six-party talks without delay.”

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi noted North Korea has made such statements in the past to bolster its negotiating position.

“We must work to show that North Korea will benefit the most from returning quickly to the six-nation talks and disposing of its nuclear program,” he told reporters.

The North Korean spokesman emphasized Pyongyang’s desire to have a self-reliant nuclear power industry.

He noted the country already announced plans to operate its 5-megawatt reactor at Yongbyon, some 50 miles north of Pyongyang, and resume construction on a bigger reactor there because the United States pulled out of a 1994 deal on the North’s nuclear program.

Concerns about possible nuclear test
U.S. officials accused the North of running a secret uranium enrichment program in 2002 in violation of the earlier deal made under the Clinton administration, sparking the latest nuclear crisis. Under that deal, North Korea agreed to forgo nuclear weapons development in exchange for energy aid and the construction of nuclear reactors that couldn’t be diverted for weapons use.

Worries also have grown that the North is preparing a nuclear test, with U.S. officials saying last week that spy satellites show activity in northeastern Kilju — including tunnel digging and the construction of a reviewing stand a sufficient distance away — that could indicate such a move.

On Tuesday, the North’s main newspaper alleged the United States was making a “fuss” by spreading reports of alleged test preparations. However, the commentary in the state-run Rodong Sinmun daily didn’t deny the North was planning a test.

Amid the tension, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei said last weekend that Pyongyang already had enough plutonium to make up to six bombs from an earlier batch of fuel rods at the reactor.

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