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North Korea Blasts IAEA Decision Against Referring South Korea to U.N. Security Council Over Experiments
North Korea announced today that it would increase its “nuclear deterrent force” in reaction to last week’s decision by the International Atomic Energy Agency to forgo referring South Korea to the U.N. Security Council for its undeclared nuclear experiments, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Nov. 29). “Under this situation the D.P.R.K. is left with no option but to increase its nuclear deterrent force,” a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement published by the official KCNA news agency. “If the IAEA does not settle the secret nuclear experiments of South Korea in an understandable manner, this issue will stand out as the most important issue at the six-party talks pending a top priority discussion,” he said (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Dec. 1). Meanwhile, Pyongyang has barred the removal of South Korean construction equipment and almost 200 cars from the site of a suspended power plant project, demanding that the United States pay “compensation” for the program’s continuing suspension, the Associated Press reported. The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization, the international consortium established under the 1994 Agreed Framework to build two power reactors in North Korea in exchange for dismantlement of Pyongyang’s nuclear program, last week extended the suspension for another year. The organization stated that “the future of the project will be assessed and decided by the Executive Board before the expiration of the suspension period,” indicating the project’s chances for survival are based on whether North Korea is willing to resume stalled disarmament talks. Pyongyang has threatened seize the construction equipment, computers and any remaining technical documents at the site, according to AP (Peter James Spielmann, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Dec. 1). Elsewhere, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun began a European tour today with a visit to the United Kingdom, AFP reported. Roh’s scheduled talks with Prime Minister Tony Blair tomorrow are expected to focus on the North Korean nuclear standoff, officials said (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Dec. 1).
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