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Plutonium Reprocessing Will Increase “Deterrent” Against U.S., North Korean Official Says
A North Korean official indicated Monday that his nation may be harvesting plutonium from a nuclear reactor reported this week to have shut down, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, April 19). Han Song Ryol, North Korea’s top diplomat at the United Nations, said reprocessing the plutonium would allow Pyongyang to “increase our deterrent.” South Korea expressed concern at the move and encouraged Pyongyang to resume stalled six-party talks aimed at resolving the standoff over the North’s nuclear efforts. “We cannot but express serious concern if the North’s suspension of the 5-megawatt reactor is aimed at reprocessing (spent fuel rods),” Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said today. North Korea has once previously used threats of plutonium reprocessing to increase tensions over its nuclear program, AFP reported. Seoul remains opposed, however, to referring Pyongyang to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions. “The government has a position that under the current situation, it opposes referring the North Korean nuclear issue to the U.N. Security Council,” said lawmaker Kim Sung-gon, a member of the ruling Uri Party (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, April 20). A Japanese official today expressed concern about North Korea’s plutonium production, avoiding discussion of Pyongyang’s reported reactor shutdown and reprocessing, the Kyodo news agency reported. “The fact that fuel for nuclear arms is being produced continuously is an extremely worrying situation,” said Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda (Kyodo/Yahoo!Asia, April 20).
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