ID :
21141
Thu, 09/25/2008 - 16:54
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/21141
The shortlink copeid
U.S. urges N.K. to reconsider loading material in reprocessing plant
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 (Yonhap) -- The United States Wednesday urged North Korea to reconsider its decision to load material into a previously disabled plutonium reprocessing plant, signaling a major reversal of its obligations under a multilateral denuclearization deal.
National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said, "We strongly urge the
North to reconsider these steps and come back immediately into compliance with
its obligations as outlined in the Six Party agreements," according to the AFP.
Such a move "will only serve to further isolate North Korea at a time when the
other Six Party talks members are working to achieve the denuclearization of the
Korean Peninsula," the spokesman said in New York while accompanying President
George W. Bush to the annual United Nations General Assembly.
Johndroe urged the North to come back to the negotiation table, calling for
"further discussions with the North on their obligations under a verification
protocol."
He was responding to remarks made by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
spokesperson Melissa Fleming earlier in the day, who announced that North Korea
expelled IAEA inspectors from its plutonium reprocessing plant in Yongbyon,
north of the capital Pyongyang, apparently to reload spent fuel rods in the
plant for production of weapons-grade plutonium.
North Korea is believed to have extracted up to 50 kilograms of plutonium from
its Yongbyon nuclear facilities capable of producing several nuclear warheads.
Estimates vary, but U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama once said
North Korea has eight nuclear warheads, without elaborating.
The reprocessing plant was being disabled, along with its 5-megawatt nuclear
reactor, under the aid-for-denuclearization deal involving the two Koreas, the
U.S., China, Japan and Russia.
The North, however, said recently it has begun restarting its nuclear facilities,
citing the failure of the U.S. to take Pyongyang off a terrorism blacklist.
Washington was supposed to delist Pyongyang in early August, but has not yet done
that due to the North's reluctance to agree to a verification regime on its
nuclear facilities.
Pyongyang has denounced Washington for demanding unfettered access.
U.S. chief nuclear envoy Christopher Hill rebuffed that notion Monday.
"This has come up in North Korean public statements as a desire on our part to
conduct house-to-house searches, which is, of course, not what we're interested
in," he said. "We just need the means to make sure that what they've declared to
us is something we can verify."
Hill said North Korea has agreed on "some of the major elements of what
verification will be," but added, "There are some details that do need to be
pinned down."
IAEA's Fleming told reporters in Vienna that North Korea has announced that it
will "introduce nuclear material to the reprocessing plant in one week's time ...
There are no more seals and surveillance equipment in place at the reprocessing
facility."
The North's move is reminiscent of the ousting of IAEA inspectors from Yongbyon
in early 2003, just months after the U.S. accused the North of running a secret
highly enriched uranium-based nuclear program in addition to its plutonium
facilities.
North Korea admitted IAEA inspectors again in 2007, soon after it agreed to a
multilateral deal on its denuclearization in return for massive energy and
economic aid and diplomatic recognition.
Some say North Korea's threat to restart its nuclear reactor aims to pressure the
U.S. to lift the North from the terrorism blacklist, but others say North Korea's
hard-line military is taking advantage of leader Kim Jong-il's fragile health to
nullify the nuclear deal. Kim has not been seen in public since Aug. 14 amid
reports he is recovering from a stroke.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a CNBC television program
Tuesday that she did not know about Kim's condition exactly.
"Something is going on in North Korea. I don't think any of us know precisely
what," she said, reiterating that North Korea needs to sign the verification
regime "so that we can continue with the six-party process that has a lot of
benefits for North Korea."
National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said, "We strongly urge the
North to reconsider these steps and come back immediately into compliance with
its obligations as outlined in the Six Party agreements," according to the AFP.
Such a move "will only serve to further isolate North Korea at a time when the
other Six Party talks members are working to achieve the denuclearization of the
Korean Peninsula," the spokesman said in New York while accompanying President
George W. Bush to the annual United Nations General Assembly.
Johndroe urged the North to come back to the negotiation table, calling for
"further discussions with the North on their obligations under a verification
protocol."
He was responding to remarks made by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
spokesperson Melissa Fleming earlier in the day, who announced that North Korea
expelled IAEA inspectors from its plutonium reprocessing plant in Yongbyon,
north of the capital Pyongyang, apparently to reload spent fuel rods in the
plant for production of weapons-grade plutonium.
North Korea is believed to have extracted up to 50 kilograms of plutonium from
its Yongbyon nuclear facilities capable of producing several nuclear warheads.
Estimates vary, but U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama once said
North Korea has eight nuclear warheads, without elaborating.
The reprocessing plant was being disabled, along with its 5-megawatt nuclear
reactor, under the aid-for-denuclearization deal involving the two Koreas, the
U.S., China, Japan and Russia.
The North, however, said recently it has begun restarting its nuclear facilities,
citing the failure of the U.S. to take Pyongyang off a terrorism blacklist.
Washington was supposed to delist Pyongyang in early August, but has not yet done
that due to the North's reluctance to agree to a verification regime on its
nuclear facilities.
Pyongyang has denounced Washington for demanding unfettered access.
U.S. chief nuclear envoy Christopher Hill rebuffed that notion Monday.
"This has come up in North Korean public statements as a desire on our part to
conduct house-to-house searches, which is, of course, not what we're interested
in," he said. "We just need the means to make sure that what they've declared to
us is something we can verify."
Hill said North Korea has agreed on "some of the major elements of what
verification will be," but added, "There are some details that do need to be
pinned down."
IAEA's Fleming told reporters in Vienna that North Korea has announced that it
will "introduce nuclear material to the reprocessing plant in one week's time ...
There are no more seals and surveillance equipment in place at the reprocessing
facility."
The North's move is reminiscent of the ousting of IAEA inspectors from Yongbyon
in early 2003, just months after the U.S. accused the North of running a secret
highly enriched uranium-based nuclear program in addition to its plutonium
facilities.
North Korea admitted IAEA inspectors again in 2007, soon after it agreed to a
multilateral deal on its denuclearization in return for massive energy and
economic aid and diplomatic recognition.
Some say North Korea's threat to restart its nuclear reactor aims to pressure the
U.S. to lift the North from the terrorism blacklist, but others say North Korea's
hard-line military is taking advantage of leader Kim Jong-il's fragile health to
nullify the nuclear deal. Kim has not been seen in public since Aug. 14 amid
reports he is recovering from a stroke.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a CNBC television program
Tuesday that she did not know about Kim's condition exactly.
"Something is going on in North Korea. I don't think any of us know precisely
what," she said, reiterating that North Korea needs to sign the verification
regime "so that we can continue with the six-party process that has a lot of
benefits for North Korea."
