North Korean diplomats today declared that Pyongyang possesses nuclear weapons and threatened to test them, a source told CNN today (see GSN, April 23).

In a “blatant and bold” statement on the second day of talks in Beijing, North Korean envoy Ri Gun told U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly that his country has nuclear weapons, the source said.  Ri also threatened that North Korea would conduct a visible test of its weapons to prove that it was a nuclear power, the source added.

“What are you going to do about it?” a North Korean diplomat was reported to have said during the exchange.

A senior Bush administration official said today that the White House was still working to determine what exactly the North Koreans meant by their claim (CNN.com, April 24).

The planned three-day series of talks between the United States, North Korea and China, which began yesterday, came to an abrupt end today after the North Korean claim. 

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell warned Pyongyang against leaving with “the slightest impression that the United States and its partners and the nations in the region will be intimidated by bellicose statements or by threats or actions.”

Bilateral talks between the United States and China, as well as between China and North Korea, could still occur tomorrow, Powell said (BBC News, April 24).

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