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N.Korea has "weaponised" plutonium stocks: U.S. expert
Sat Jan 17, 2009 5:43am EST
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By Chris Buckley
BEIJING (Reuters) - North Korea has "weaponised" enough declared plutonium stocks to produce four to five nuclear weapons, said Selig Harrison, a U.S. expert just returned from talks with officials in Pyongyang.
Harrison, speaking about his visit to the North from Tuesday to Saturday, said he talked with four North Korean officials, including Li Gun, the foreign ministry official in charge of relations with the United States.
Harrison said he was told "North Korea wants friendly relations with the United States" and that if the Obama Administration makes a political decision for improved relations, then "the DPRK and the United States can become intimate friends."
Harrison quoted Li as saying that Pyongyang was not in a position to say when it might commit itself to nuclear disarmament.
He said the North Korean official told him that they had "already weaponised 30.8 kilograms (68 lb) of plutonium" that was listed as part of the North's nuclear declaration -- an amount he understood could make four to five weapons -- adding that they had said "the weapons cannot be inspected."
The officials all told him the members of six-party talks have been told that Pyongyang had weaponised the declared plutonium, Harrison said.
The U.S. scholar said the North Koreans would not say how the plutonium had been "weaponised" but indicated it was used for missiles, he said.
Separately, he said, he got "flat denials" about claims that North Korea has sought to enrich uranium.
FINISH LIGHT-WATER REACTORS
Harrison said he could not vouch for the credibility of Norkor's weaponisation claims. But he said they would make negotiations more difficult.
"It's a gloomy prospect," he said of the outlook for the six-party talks.
North Korea has delayed implementing a nuclear disarmament agreement struck at six-party talks in Beijing, unwilling to accept verification rules demanded by the other countries in the talks and claiming they have not abided by their aid vows.
Harrison said North Korea is also demanding construction of two unfinished light-water reactors in return for dismantling Yongbyon and that verification of its nuclear activities would hinge on the United States and South Korea also agreeing to open their nuclear weapons activities in the South to similar verification.
"That's certainly raising the bar," he said.
The officials provided no firm information about North Korean leader Kim Jung-il's health, Harrison said, but added he seems to be "not working as he did before on a full-time schedule." Continued...
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