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North Korea: Pyongyang Admits Existence of Weapons Program After being confronted by a U.S. delegation during a visit to Pyongyang earlier this month, North Korean officials acknowledged the existence of a nuclear weapons program, a U.S. State Department spokesman said yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 8). Such a program would be a violation of international nonproliferation accords, including the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the 1994 Agreed Framework between the United States and North Korea and the 1991 denuclearization agreement between North and South Korea, the spokesman said. During the Oct. 3-5 visit, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly told North Korean officials that the United States had information that North Korea had maintained a uranium enrichment program for nuclear weapons for several years in violation of several international agreements, said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher (see GSN, March 21). The North Korean officials acknowledged the existence of the program and said they considered the Agreed Framework to be “nullified,” Boucher said (U.S. State Department release, Oct. 16). The North Korean officials had initially called the U.S. claims “fabrications,” but a day later, North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Kang Sok-joo confirmed the existence of the nuclear weapons program, U.S. officials said (Slevin/De Young, Washington Post, Oct. 17). Kang said “something to the effect of, ‘Your president called us a member of the axis of evil. ... Your troops are deployed on the Korean peninsula. ... Of course, we have a nuclear program,’” according to a senior Bush administration source who was briefed on the meeting (Koppel/King, CNN.com, Oct. 17). Kang said North Korean officials had met through the night before deciding to say that the nuclear weapons program had been underway for several years, U.S. officials said. Kang also said North Korea had developed other, more powerful weapons. Far from being apologetic, Kang was “assertive, aggressive about it,” a U.S. official said. Experts have said they are unsure what Kang meant by saying North Korea had developed more powerful weapons. The claim could mean other types of weapons of mass destruction, such as chemical and biological weapons, they said (Slevin/De Young, Washington Post). White House officials would not say whether North Korea indicated it had completed a nuclear weapon through its program, according to the New York Times. “We’re not certain that it’s been weaponized yet,” a White House official said, adding that there have been no signs that North Korea has tested a nuclear weapon, an activity the United States would be able to detect. If North Korea’s claims are accurate, it means Pyongyang began its uranium enrichment program in the mid-to-late 1990s, according to the Times. While such a program does not require the use of nuclear reactors to produce weapon-grade materials, it is a slow process that the United States probably detected through North Korean attempts to obtain centrifuges, the Times reported. “We have to assume that they now have the capacity to build many more weapons, and they may have already,” a senior U.S. official said (David Sanger, New York Times, Oct. 17). U.S. Evidence U.S. officials declined to detail the information Kelly presented during the visit to Pyongyang. One official called the information “compelling” and “very detailed.” “It basically shows they in no way kept their word,” the official said (see GSN, Sept. 12). The information confirmed previous U.S. suspicions that North Korea had been working on a secret enrichment program, which could only be used to produce materials for nuclear weapons, a senior State official said. The information only became available this summer and was not available when the Clinton administration attempted negotiations with North Korea in 2000, the official said (Strobel/Zielenziger, Philadelphia Inquirer, Oct. 17). Over the past several years, U.S. intelligence agencies have detected signs that North Korea was trying to obtain uranium enrichment technologies, according to the Washington Times. In 1999, a North Korean trading firm was detected trying to buy such technology from a Japanese company, the Times reported. The technology could have helped North Korea develop the ability to produce weapon-grade materials within six years, according to an intelligence report. The sale was blocked at the time, U.S. officials said (David Sands, Washington Times, Oct. 17). A January CIA report said that during the latter half of 2001, North Korea “continued its attempts (to) procure technology worldwide that could have applications in its nuclear program,” according to the Associated Press (see GSN, Jan. 31). “We assess that North Korea has produced enough plutonium for at least one, and possibly two, nuclear weapons,” the CIA report said (CNN.com). International Agreements North Korea’s acknowledgement of its nuclear weapons program places it in violation of several international agreements, including the 1994 Agreed Framework, the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and the Joint North-South Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korea Peninsula, Boucher said (U.S. State Department release). According to the Joint North-South Declaration, “The South and the North will not possess facilities for nuclear reprocessing and uranium enrichment” (Arms Control Reporter, Dec. 31, 1991). Under the Agreed Framework, North Korea agreed to abandon its nuclear activities in exchange for two U.S.-built light-water nuclear reactors (see GSN, Sept. 13). According to one provision in the agreement, “the DPRK [North Korea] will freeze its graphite-moderated reactors and related facilities and will eventually dismantle these reactors and related facilities.” The Agreed Framework also obligates North Korea to “consistently take steps to implement the North-South Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” and to “remain a party to the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons and will allow implementation of its safeguards agreement under the Treaty” (Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization release, Oct. 17). The North Korean nuclear weapon program is a “very serious material breach” of the Agreed Framework, a senior U.S. official said (Slevin/DeYoung, Washington Post). During the meeting with Kelly, North Korean officials said they considered the Agreed Framework to be nullified, Boucher said (U.S. State Department release, Oct. 16). White House national security officials met Tuesday to discuss the North Korean nuclear weapons program and whether the Agreed Framework could be maintained, a U.S. official said (Sands, Washington Times). United States Begins Consultations The Bush administration has begun consultations with key members of Congress on the North Korean nuclear weapons program and will continue to do so, Boucher said. Kelly and Undersecretary of State John Bolton will travel to Asia “to confer with friends and allies about this important issue,” he said (U.S. State Department release). Kelly and Bolton left yesterday for Beijing, a previously scheduled trip that was originally planned as preparation for next week’s scheduled meeting between U.S. President George W. Bush and Chinese President Jiang Zemin. After the meeting in Beijing, Kelly is expected to travel to Tokyo and Seoul (Strobel/Zielenziger, Philadelphia Inquirer). What If... The White House’s decision to remain silent on North Korea’s claims for almost two weeks appears to be significant, according to the New York Times. The Bush administration has attempted to avoid calling the situation a crisis that could require military action while maintaining the situation in Iraq as the main U.S. priority, the Times reported. “Imagine if [Iraqi President] Saddam [Hussein] had done this, that he had admitted — or bluffed — that he has the bomb or is about to have one,” a U.S. official said. “But there’s been a decision made that the system can take only so much at one time.” Another White House concern could be the vulnerabilities of U.S. allies in Asia, the Times reported. U.S. officials have long believed that any military conflict with North Korea would result in a second Korean war and the destruction of Seoul, according to the Times. In addition to its suspected WMD programs, North Korea has a large arsenal of conventional weapons and military forces numbering in the hundreds of thousands. “The United States and our allies call on North Korea to comply with its commitments under the Nonproliferation Treaty, and to eliminate its nuclear weapons program in a verifiable manner,” Boucher said. “We seek a peaceful resolution of this situation. Everyone in the region has a stake in this issue and no peaceful nation wants to see a nuclear-armed North Korea. This is an opportunity for peace loving nations in the region to deal, effectively, with this challenge” (U.S. State Department release). For further information, see: States Parties to the NPT (U.N.)
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