N Korea attacks South over tests

[yasin_khan]

North Korea has said that news of recent nuclear experiments in the South has made it even more determined not to abandon its own weapons programme.
South Korea has admitted experimenting with plutonium and uranium and has been chided by the United States.

The North accused the US of backing the research and said international talks on its nuclear plans were in question.

Delegations of Chinese and British officials are currently holding talks in the North's capital, Pyongyang.

The north said Washington had adopted double standards on nuclear technology.

It is self-evident that [North Korea] can never abandon its nuclear programme under such a situation

North Korea

"It has transferred nuclear technology to its 'allies' and connived at their nuclear weapons-related activities and possession of nuclear weapons," a spokesman for the North Korean foreign ministry said on Saturday.

"But it has worked hard to stamp out nuclear activities for a peaceful purpose after faking up 'misinformation' about [North Korea] on account of its ideology and system."

The row centres on recent revelations in the South:


Seoul admitted extracting a small amount of plutonium - a key ingredient in nuclear bombs - in secret research conducted in the early 1980s

South Korean scientists produced 0.2 of a gram of uranium in 2000 through scientists who did not have government approval

Unconfirmed reports are also emerging of other undisclosed nuclear tests
Diplomatic mission

The BBC's Charles Scanlon reports from Seoul that the North appears determined to use the revelations about the South to maximum effect.

"It is self-evident that [North Korea] can never abandon its nuclear programme under such a situation..." the North's foreign ministry said.

"We cannot but link these cases to the issue of resuming the six-party talks."

The talks on the North's programme - which involve both Koreas, the US, China, Russia and Japan - were stalling already, our correspondent says.

But now the North has ammunition to question the South's true intentions and to justify its own well-advanced atomic bomb programme, he adds.

A high-level delegation from China, the North's main ally, arrived in Pyongyang on Friday for talks which observers see as a last-ditch attempt to save the six-party negotiations.

The delegation's leader, Li Changchun, is expected to meet North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-Il.

UK Foreign Office minister Bill Rammell has also arrived in the Communist state in a bid to start a new dialogue over its nuclear weapons programme as well as its human rights record.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3647278.stm

 

[P.A.F]

well i say that north korea should go for faster production. i can see americas policy here. they have added a little spice to this region and notice they have BREIFLY shouted at south korea for what it's done. no mention of weapons inspectors what so ever.

 

[highsea]

WASHINGTON — South Korea is likely to be referred to the U.N. Security Council for conducting an unsanctioned uranium enrichment experiment four years ago, according to U.S. officials.

South Korea acknowledged last week that scientists from the state-run Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute enriched a trace amount of uranium in three laser tests conducted in January and February 2000.

Western diplomats in Vienna have said the level of enrichment accomplished was close to weapons-grade, but South Korea's top nuclear scientist said that was speculation.

http://www.enn.com/news/2004-09-10/s_27106.asp

From what I have gathered, South Korea extracted 0.2 grams of Plutonium 4 years ago in a test of laser enrichment. The US intervened and the program was shut down.

Laser enrichment has yet to be shown as a practical method of extracting plutonium anyway, and 0.2 grams can hardly be called a bomb program. North Korea is just playing politics with the announcement.

Here's more. South Korea brought this to the attention of the IAEA themselves. The IAEA has had inspectors in South Korea since immediately after the announcement.

South Korea has admitted to the U.N.'s atomic watchdog that a team of scientists four years ago carried out an unauthorized experiment to enrich uranium, a key process to building a nuclear weapon.

The government says the experiment, which involved less than a quarter of a gram of uranium, was not geared towards making a nuclear device, and did not violate South Korea's commitment to nuclear non-proliferation.

The incident came to light when Seoul reported the matter to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in line with its obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). South Korea last February voluntarily adopted an additional protocol to the NPT, and had to make a declaration to the IAEA about any relevant activity.

An IAEA inspection team has been in South Korea for several days to investigate.

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=\ForeignBureaus\archive\200409\FOR20040903b.html

-CM

 

[mysterious]

The quarrel is over "uranium" enrichment and not "plutonium" enrichment as far as what I've read indicates!

 

[highsea]

Uranium is the starting point. Plutonium is the endpoint. Normally this is carried out in a reactor, but SK was trying to see if they could develop the laser method.

This is different than the Uranium enrichment systems like centrifuges, which separate the uranium isotopes from UF6, and enriched uranium is the endpoint. Plutonium extraction actually converts a portion of the uranium to plutonium.

South Korea has the full fuel cycle anyway. They have 19 power generating reactors, 40% of their electricity is from nuclear power. They are monitored by the IAEA and the US. They don't have a weapons program, so they don't care if they get inspected or not.

Like I said, this is just NK blowing off steam for propaganda reasons. Trying to get some leverage on the 6-way talks.

-CM