ID :
57464
Sat, 04/25/2009 - 17:32
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/57464
The shortlink copeid
N. Korea says it resumed reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods
(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead paras; UPDATES with additional details)
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, April 25 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has restarted extracting plutonium from
spent fuel rods in its major nuclear facility, the North said Saturday, in an
apparent response to U.N. punishment for its April 5 rocket launch.
The announcement by the North's foreign ministry came just hours after the U.N.
Security Council froze foreign assets of two firms and a bank in North Korea over
their suspected ties to missile and nuclear programs.
"The reprocessing of spent fuel rods from the pilot atomic power plant began as
declared in the Foreign Ministry statement dated April 14," a spokesman for the
ministry said in an interview with the official Korean Central News Agency.
North Korea warned on April 14 that it was withdrawing from nuclear disarmament
talks and would restore its major nuclear facility in Yongbyon in protest of the
U.N. Security Council condemnation of its rocket launch.
Pyongyang says the U.N. action is unfair, as it was exercising its sovereign
right to develop space with the launch. North Korea insists the launch was to put
the Kwangmyongsong-2 satellite into orbit, while outside monitors say no such
object has entered space.
The unidentified spokesman for the North's foreign ministry said the reprocessing
of spent fuel rods "will contribute to bolstering the nuclear deterrence for
self-defense in every way to cope with the increasing military threats from the
hostile forces."
North Korea tested a nuclear device in 2006, but after a landmark agreement in
2007, it began disabling its Yongbyon nuclear facility later that year. In
response, the U.S. removed the North from its list of terrorism-sponsoring
nations in October last year.
But the six-party talks hit a snag late last year over how to verify North
Korea's past nuclear activities.
Marking the 77th anniversary of its military Saturday, North Korea said it will
deal a "merciless strike" against the United States and its allies should they
try to invade it.
"Should the imperialist U.S. and its followers touch even an inch of our
territorial land, air or sea, our troops of the Korean People's Army will deal a
merciless strike of justice to the enemies to destroy them and thoroughly
eradicate the roots of war on the Korean Peninsula," the Rodong Sinmun, the
North's main newspaper published by the Workers' Party, said in an editorial.
A sanctions committee of the U.N. Security Council imposed financial and trade
sanctions on the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation, the Korea Ryonbong
General Corporation and Tanchon Commercial Bank on Saturday (Seoul time).
The committee also banned U.N. member states from trading in dual-use items
related to the production of ballistic missiles and other weapons of mass
destruction.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, April 25 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has restarted extracting plutonium from
spent fuel rods in its major nuclear facility, the North said Saturday, in an
apparent response to U.N. punishment for its April 5 rocket launch.
The announcement by the North's foreign ministry came just hours after the U.N.
Security Council froze foreign assets of two firms and a bank in North Korea over
their suspected ties to missile and nuclear programs.
"The reprocessing of spent fuel rods from the pilot atomic power plant began as
declared in the Foreign Ministry statement dated April 14," a spokesman for the
ministry said in an interview with the official Korean Central News Agency.
North Korea warned on April 14 that it was withdrawing from nuclear disarmament
talks and would restore its major nuclear facility in Yongbyon in protest of the
U.N. Security Council condemnation of its rocket launch.
Pyongyang says the U.N. action is unfair, as it was exercising its sovereign
right to develop space with the launch. North Korea insists the launch was to put
the Kwangmyongsong-2 satellite into orbit, while outside monitors say no such
object has entered space.
The unidentified spokesman for the North's foreign ministry said the reprocessing
of spent fuel rods "will contribute to bolstering the nuclear deterrence for
self-defense in every way to cope with the increasing military threats from the
hostile forces."
North Korea tested a nuclear device in 2006, but after a landmark agreement in
2007, it began disabling its Yongbyon nuclear facility later that year. In
response, the U.S. removed the North from its list of terrorism-sponsoring
nations in October last year.
But the six-party talks hit a snag late last year over how to verify North
Korea's past nuclear activities.
Marking the 77th anniversary of its military Saturday, North Korea said it will
deal a "merciless strike" against the United States and its allies should they
try to invade it.
"Should the imperialist U.S. and its followers touch even an inch of our
territorial land, air or sea, our troops of the Korean People's Army will deal a
merciless strike of justice to the enemies to destroy them and thoroughly
eradicate the roots of war on the Korean Peninsula," the Rodong Sinmun, the
North's main newspaper published by the Workers' Party, said in an editorial.
A sanctions committee of the U.N. Security Council imposed financial and trade
sanctions on the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation, the Korea Ryonbong
General Corporation and Tanchon Commercial Bank on Saturday (Seoul time).
The committee also banned U.N. member states from trading in dual-use items
related to the production of ballistic missiles and other weapons of mass
destruction.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
