The Hindu : International : North Korea's move raises nuclear stakes

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 12, 2005

International

International

North Korea's move raises nuclear stakes

P. S. Suryanarayana

"8,000 spent fuel rods unloaded"

SINGAPORE: North Korea on Wednesday fuelled speculation about its suspected intention to test a nuclear weapon by announcing that several thousand spent fuel rods had now been retrieved from a pilot nuclear plant.

These rods can be used to extract weapons-grade plutonium.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) had announced on February 10 that it had indeed manufactured the atom bomb. In recent weeks, speculation has gained currency on the international diplomatic circuit about possible preparations by Pyongyang to actually test a nuclear weapon. This is based on reports that the U.S. has detected, through satellite imagery from outer space, signs of activities for an underground nuclear test.

A spokesman of the DPRK Foreign Ministry told the state news agency on Wednesday that the relevant authority "has successfully finished the unloading of 8,000 spent fuel rods from the 5-megawatt pilot nuclear plant in the shortest period, recently."

As monitored in Seoul, a listening post for developments in the DPRK, the spokesman emphasised further that Pyongyang "keeps taking necessary measures to bolster its nuclear arsenal for the defensive purpose of coping with the prevailing situation." The objective of developing the DPRK's nuclear power industry was also underlined in the same context.

Reacting to the latest official word from the DPRK, the South Korean Foreign Ministry not only expressed "deep regret" but also maintained that Pyongyang's action "runs counter" to the goal of de-nuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. The prevailing situation in this respect was also being aggravated, Seoul noted.

On the diplomatic front, Chinese President Hu Jintao and his South Korean counterpart Roh Moo-hyun, who met in Moscow on the sidelines of the events marking the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, urged the DPRK to return to the now-stalled six-party talks.

These parleys on the DPRK's nuclear weapons programme have been hosted by China and attended by South Korea, Japan and Russia besides the U.S. and North Korea.

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