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U.S. Studying North Korean Uranium Report; S. Korea, Russia Discuss Nuclear Standoff
The United States is studying a report that nearly 2 tons of uranium surrendered by Libya earlier this year originated in North Korea, not in Pakistan as U.S. officials originally believed, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, May 24). “We have seen the stories,” said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher. “We’ll be looking into this matter further,” he added. Diplomats close to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which discovered that the cask of uranium hexafluoride apparently came to Libya from North Korea in 2001, said the agency is continuing its investigation of the matter. A senior Western diplomat said the agency “had not found explicitly the source” of the uranium. Another senior Western diplomat said the New York Times article was “accurate” (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, May 25). Meanwhile, the South Korean and Russian foreign ministers met in Moscow yesterday to discuss the North Korea nuclear standoff. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov praised Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il last week and Kim’s pledge to adhere to a moratorium on long-range missile launches. “The warming of relations between Tokyo and Pyongyang will no doubt make for a more favorable atmosphere at the six-nation talks on the Korean nuclear problem,” Lavrov said (Associated Press, May 24).
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