http://www.npt2005.org/

News Analysis: Examining North Korea's Nuclear Claims

http://www.npt2005.org/

North Korea Nuclear Talks in Limbo
Paul Kerr

North Korea warns US-S. Korean military drill could result in “actual war”:

North Korea warned on Sunday that annual US-South Korean military exercises due to start this week and designed to deter any military threat from the Stalinist country could turn into “an actual war”.
http://tinyurl.com/3sky7

How Electronics Are Penetrating North Korea's Isolation
By JAMES BROOKE
New ways of thinking are stealing into North Korea, perhaps
corroding the steely controls on ideology and information
that have kept the Kim family in power.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/15/internat...15north.html?th

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/03/14/news/rice.html

North Korea Impasse to be focus of Rice trip

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/GC16Dg03.html

North Korea's missionary position

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/a...rots___sticks_1

Electricity is Carrot in North Korea Talks

N.Korea Says It May Build More Nuclear Weapons:

North Korea said Tuesday it may increase its nuclear arsenal to maintain a balance of power in East Asia and help prevent a U.S. attack on the reclusive communist state.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?t...storyID=7906656

--------------------
U.S. Official Turns Up Rhetoric on North Korea
--------------------

Ambassador to South Korea says 'other ways to deal with' the nuclear issue may be necessary if talks don't resume.

From Reuters

March 16 2005

WASHINGTON; Stalled six-country negotiations on North Korea's nuclear weapons program must be accelerated or other ways of dealing with the issue must be considered, the U.S. point man on the issue said Tuesday.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...headlines-world

N. Korea Refuses to Meet With Rice

By Burt Herman

North Korea bitterly refused Wednesday any dealings with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, as the top U.S. diplomat began a six-day visit to Asia seeking a breakthrough in the two-year standoff over the North's nuclear weapons program.

To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...er=emailarticle

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/82b0deea-9529-11d...000e2511c8.html

N. Korea may 'boost nuclear arsenal' to deter US

North Korea Says No Talks With Rice, US

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=C3EBB6:2F72C9D

N. Korea called Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reckless;
and bereft of political logic;

Condoleezza Rice Just days before U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice is due to arrive in the South Korean capital, North Korea says it
will not rejoin nuclear talks unless she apologizes for comments she
made several weeks ago.

North Korea called Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice "reckless" and
"bereft of political logic" Wednesday. Ms. Rice is on a tour of Asia,
which includes a stop in Seoul on Saturday.

North Korea's official news agency quotes a government spokesman who
demands that Ms. Rice retract her description of North Korea as an
"outpost of tyranny."

Secretary Rice is working with regional partners China, South Korea,
Russia and Japan to persuade North Korea to return to nuclear talks.
The five nations hope to convince Pyongyang to live up to
international agreements to remain free of nuclear weapons.

However, Pyongyang says Ms. Rice's failure to apologize for her
remark, made several weeks ago, demonstrates Washington is not ready
to negotiate.

Professor Nam Sung-Wook specializes in North Korea at Korea University
here in Seoul. He says he is not surprised by North Korea's comments.

Professor Nam says the statements from Pyongyang are consistent with
North Korea's long-held position that the United States has a hostile
attitude toward it.

Pyongyang says it requires a nuclear deterrent to counter that
hostility. Secretary Rice and other U.S. officials have repeatedly
asserted that Washington has no intention of attacking North Korea.

North Korea also has expressed anger at military exercises the United
States is holding with South Korean forces. Pyongyang this week said
the annual training, which begins Saturday, is preparation for an
invasion of the North and shows the United States is not serious about
peacefully resolving the nuclear issue.

The United States has maintained military bases in South Korea since
the end of the Korean War in 1953, and now has about 30,000 troops in
the country. Washington was Seoul's ally in the war, which ended with
an armistice, not a peace treaty.

North Korea has on numerous occasions ruled out returning to the
six-party talks, then hinted it may return after all. This week, the
chief U.S. delegate to the talks, Christopher Hill, said Washington
needs to see progress in the six-party process, or it may need to seek
other ways of dealing with the North Korean nuclear issue. He did not
elaborate on what other methods might be used.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=100...id=akT1N6NRzH_U

N. Korea says US Military Moves Reach 'War' Phase

--------------------
N. Korea Executions Reported
--------------------

A videotape reportedly smuggled out of the country has images of three purported public killings of alleged human traffickers.

By Barbara Demick
Times Staff Writer

March 19 2005

SEOUL; In a new crackdown on defections and smuggling to China, the North Korean regime has conducted public executions of at least three people, possibly dozens more, say human-rights advocates here who have examined a recently obtained videotape.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...headlines-world

Rice Urges North Korea to Re-Enter Nuclear Disarmament Talks

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=C508EC:2F72C9D

US secretary of state calls on all nations to use whatever leverage
they can to bring Pyongyang back to negotiating table

Condoleezza Rice, left, listens to her Japanese counterpart Nobutaka
Machimura's speech during a joint news conference, SaturdayU.S
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in Tokyo as part of a six-nation
Asian tour, has urged North Korea to return to the stalled six-nation
talks on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. In later remarks, Ms.
Rice also gave a hint that there are limits to Washington's patience.

In what U.S. officials billed as a major policy speech, and later in
remarks to reporters, the secretary of state said Saturday it is time
for North Korea to stop brandishing its nuclear capability, and
resolve the issue in the multilateral arena.

She called on all nations to use whatever leverage they can to bring
Pyongyang back to the negotiating table, where talks are aimed at
convincing the North Koreans to dismantle their nuclear programs.

In a speech at Sophia University early in the day, Ms. Rice reiterated
that the United States has no intention of attacking North Korea. But
her later remarks contained a hint of a threat, in the event that
diplomacy fails.

Condoleezza Rice speaks with reporters in Tokyo, Saturday "We are
committed to diplomacy, but I think it goes without saying that no one
is going to be prepared to allow the North Koreans just to continue
down a road that threatens everyone," she said.

Pyongyang, which says it is building nuclear weapons as a deterrent,
has said it would not consider new talks, until Ms. Rice apologizes
for earlier calling North Korea "an outpost of tyranny." Earlier this
week, the North's official news agency called Ms. Rice "bereft of any
political logic."

The U.S. secretary of state has already visited India, Pakistan and
Afghanistan on this trip. After Japan, she is due to spend time in
South Korea and China.

She says she will appeal to Chinese officials to use their influence
with Pyongyang to help restart the stalled negotiations, but she is
playing down expectations that there will be a breakthrough on this
trip.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice shakes hands with Japanese Foreign
Minister Nobutaka MachimuraDuring a wide ranging meeting with her
Japanese counterpart, Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura, on
Saturday, the U.S. secretary of state called on Japan to quickly
resume U.S. beef imports. She said the matter is "very, very
important" to the U.S. government.

The beef trade has been halted for 15 months, since one dairy cow in
Washington State, exported from Canada, was found to have "mad cow"
disease.

Mr. Machimura, standing beside Ms. Rice, told reporters that Japan's
Food Safety Commission, not politicians, has to decide on the timing.

The Japanese foreign minister says it is not possible at this point to
state a timeline or a deadline for the resumption of the beef trade.

Rice, S. Korea Urge N. Korea To Rejoin Nuke Talks

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=C5238A:2F72C9D

US secretary of state visits South Korea as part of tour of Asia

Condoleezza Rice smiles during press conference with Ban
Ki-moonStanding side-by-side with South Korean Foreign Minister Ban
Ki-moon here in Seoul Sunday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
urged North Korea to make a "strategic decision" to return to
six-party nuclear talks.

She said she and Foreign Minister Ban agreed to maximize their efforts
to end North Korea's nuclear weapons programs peacefully and
diplomatically. "We also agreed that the six-party talks are the best
way for North Korea to receive the respect that it desires and the
assistance that it needs," she added.

North Korea last month pulled out of the talks with the United States,
South Korea, Russia, China, and Japan. Again citing a "hostile
attitude" by the United States, Pyongyang said it planned to build
more nuclear weapons for its defense.

Before it will return to the talks, North Korea is demanding an
apology for Ms. Rice's description of the North several weeks ago as
an "outpost of tyranny." It has previously insisted on massive aid,
direct talks with Washington and formal security guarantees.

South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said all of North Korea's
concerns will be addressed at the negotiating table. Mr. Ban said the
six-party talks could permit direct dialogue between North Korea and
the United States.

Secretary Rice agreed that one-on-one dialogue with North Korea could
occur in the six-party format, but ruled out separate bilateral talks
between Washington and Pyongyang. "When we're at the table, we're
talking to each other -- everyone can't talk at once, so, of course,
we're talking to each other. But this is in a six-party framework,"
she said.

The United States insists any resolution needs to involve Asian
powers.

Ms. Rice repeated Washington's assertion it has no intention of
invading or attacking North Korea. She said only successful six-party
talks could lead to security assurances for Pyongyang, as well as aid
for the North's devastated economy.

North Korea has attended three rounds of talks in Beijing since the
United States accused the Communist nation in 2002 of having illicit
nuclear weapons programs in violation of numerous international
agreements. There has been no progress on disarmament, and North Korea
claims to have several bombs.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?t...storyID=7951463

US Says Can't Wait Forever for N.Korea talks

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/331b46b4-9956-11d...000e2511c8.html

Rice calls for China's help on North Korea

North Korea rejects US nuclear offer:

"It is a daydream for the US to contemplate forcing the DPRK to lay down arms first under the situation where both are in a state of armistice and at war technically,"
http://tinyurl.com/4nkhg

N.Korea says boosted nuclear weapons:

North Korea says it has increased its nuclear arsenal to help prevent a U.S. attack on the reclusive communist state, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reports.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/050321/325/feos8.html

Did Washington Lie to Seoul?:

Washington fabricated the story of a direct sale from Pyongyang to Tripoli to step up pressure on North Korea, the report said.
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/new...0503210040.html

http://tinyurl.com/5fx8b

U.S. shielded Pakistan in report on N. Korean sale of nuclear material
http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/5302817.html

Rice: U.S. and Allies Discussed 'Options' Against N. Korea
(Glenn Kessler, Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2005Mar21.html

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday that she had raised the prospect with Asian allies over the weekend of imposing economic or political penalties against North Korea if its government persisted in refusing to return to six-nation talks aimed at ending its nuclear ambitions.

In remarks at the conclusion of her week-long tour of Asia, Rice said she had discussed using "other options in the international system" against North Korea, the first time a senior U.S. official has publicly acknowledged the possibility of shifting to an aggressive campaign to isolate North Korea if the talks remain dormant. U.S. officials said the options could include tighter strictures on North Korea's illicit trade in arms and drugs and referring the matter to the U.N. Security Council.

Rice suggests more forceful N. Korea plan :

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday that she had raised with Asian allies the prospect of using "other options in the international system" against North Korea if it persists in refusing to return to six-nation talks
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/032...e-nkorea22.html

North Korea says not opposed to nuke talks:

North Korea had also said on Monday it was prepared to mobilise its military to thwart any "provocative moves".
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/050322/325/fergb.html

U.S. Embassy denies allies were misled:

The U.S. Embassy in Seoul yesterday disputed an article published by The Washington Post, which indicated the United States had misled Asian allies about nuclear exports by North Korea.
http://tinyurl.com/4ybk3

--------------------
N. Korea Is Willing to Return to Nuclear Talks, China Says
--------------------

From Associated Press

March 23 2005

BEIJING; Chinese officials said Tuesday that North Korea's premier had told them the country might be willing to return to nuclear disarmament talks, despite its threat to indefinitely boycott the negotiations and its claim that it had expanded its atomic arsenal.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...headlines-world

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea.html

N Korea's treasured sword and shield

--------------------
'Intelligence Fiasco' Stirs Up the Korean Peninsula
--------------------

Some in the South believe U.S. officials overstated the North's nuclear activities. The flap roughly parallels the disputes over Iraq.

By Barbara Demick
Times Staff Writer

March 24 2005

SEOUL; At a sensitive time when the United States is trying to build a consensus on North Korea, South Koreans are in a furor over allegations that Washington hyped intelligence about the North's nuclear activities.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...headlines-world

US Says No Deadline on North Korea Nuclear Talks

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=C69CCB:2F72C9D

Pyongyang said in early February that it was staying away from the
talks because of what it said was a hostile policy by the United
States

U.S. officials have said the diplomatic effort to get North Korea to
give up its nuclear weapons ambitions cannot drag on forever. But
administration spokesman are denying reports the White House has set a
late-June deadline for Pyongyang to return to the bargaining table.

China has hosted three rounds of the six-party talks, but North Korea
refused to attend a fourth round that had been scheduled for last
September, and continues to shun the discussions.

On her just-completed Asian trip, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
spoke of unspecified other options available in the international
system in case the process remains stalled.

A report from Tokyo Wednesday quoting diplomatic sources said Ms. Rice
had told Chinese leaders the United States cannot afford to wait more
than a year from the last round of talks held last June. However
spokesman for both the White House and State Department said the
report was without foundation and that there is no deadline.

At his news conference in Texas with Mexican and Canadian leaders,
President Bush said the other participants in the six-party talks are
united on the need for a nuclear-free Korean peninsula and for
Pyongyang to return to the bargaining, but that he is taking a patient
approach.

"So we've got five nations saying the same thing to Korea, North
Korea. And we'll continue saying it North Korea. And, I'm a patient
person, and so are a lot of people that are involved in this issue,"
said Mr. Bush. "But the leader of North Korea must understand that
when we five nations speak, we mean what they say. And there is a way
forward, I repeat for Kim Jong-Il. And it's his choice to make; we've
made our choice."

The United States has said it is prepared to be part of multi-lateral
guarantees for North Korea's security under a deal for a complete and
verifiable end to its nuclear program. It has ruled out up-front
economic or diplomatic benefits for Pyongyang until it disarms, but
has said other participants can give the economically-hard pressed
communist state aid as the process unfolds.

Mr. Bush spoke to reporters after hearing a two hour briefing from
Secretary Rice on the week-long trip to South and East Asia she
completed late Monday.

In the main policy speech of the trip in Tokyo, Ms. Rice said the
North Korean government can find the respect it desires, and acquire
the assistance it needs, if it is willing to make a strategic choice
for peace.

Pyongyang said flatly in early February that it possesses nuclear
weapons and was staying away from the talks because of what it said
was a hostile policy by the United States. It has said it will return
to negotiations only when conditions are right.

http://cbsnewyork.com/topstories/topstorie..._084082138.html

N. Korean Premier Keeps Mum on Talks

North Korea threatens US with war:

North Korea is ready to go to war with the United States over the communist country's nuclear programme, a newspaper on Friday quoted a North Korean envoy as saying.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1062143.cms

North Korea Makes Surprise Admission of Bird Flu Outbreak

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=C7835F:2F72C9D

Announcement is first time North Korea acknowledges presence of the
disease; hundreds of thousands of chickens culled

North Korea has announced it has culled hundreds of thousands of
chickens to halt an outbreak of avian influenza.  North Korea
took the unusual step of admitting that at least three of the
country's poultry farms had recently experienced outbreaks of avian
influenza, also known as "bird flu."

An announcement by the official Korean Central News Agency said "a few
farms" were infected, and that several hundred thousand chickens were
slaughtered and burned to halt further infections.

The farms, near the capital, Pyongyang, included the Hadang farm,
which North Korea has previously hailed as one of its showcase
agricultural facilities.

The news release said that "dynamic work" was being undertaken to stop
the outbreak from spreading to other parts of the country. It did not
specify when the outbreak began or which strain of the flu virus was
found, but did say no human beings had been infected.

North Korea specialist at Korea University in Seoul Professor Nam
Sung-wook says North Korea's severe economic shortages may be behind
Pyongyang's uncharacteristic frankness.

He says he believes the North will seek pharmaceutical aid from South
Korea and the international community in the coming weeks. A World
Health Organization team is already in North Korea on a fact-finding
mission.

"They are short of medicine. That is why they announced the bird flu
in public," said Mr. Nam.

The announcement confirms media reports in South Korea that first
emerged last month. North Korea had previously maintained it was free
of the disease.

Following those reports, South Korean officials announced they were
halting what would have been the first imports of North Korean poultry
in almost 50 years. Days later, Japan announced it would not allow
North Korean poultry to enter the country.

An especially severe strain of bird flu known as H5N1 has killed at
least 48 people in Southeast Asia since December 2003. In most if not
all cases, the victims contracted the disease after handling infected
poultry.

International health authorities say they fear the virus could mutate
into a form easily transmissible from human to human.

--------------------
A New Food Crisis Plagues N. Korea
--------------------

U.N. agency appeals for donations as supplies dwindle and daily rations are reduced.

From Associated Press

March 27 2005

BEIJING; The U.N. World Food Program is launching a new appeal for food donations for North Korea, an agency official said Saturday, warning that dwindling supplies were forcing it to cut off aid to children and the elderly in the isolated country.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...headlines-world

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/GC26Dg01.html

US tries to coax North Korea back to talks
Douglas Ramsey

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/GC30Dg01.html

Democracy, Pyongyang-style
Andrei Lankov

HYUNDAI AND THE NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR PROGRAM

The Congressional Research Service made headlines in South Korea
last week with a renewed allegation that cash payments provided to
the North Korean government by South Korea's Hyundai corporate
group between 1999 and 2003 may have been used to support the
North's clandestine uranium enrichment program.

"Larry A. Niksch of the Congressional Research Service (CRS)...
said in his Feb. 22 report [that] Hyundai funds went into
accelerating North Korea's secret HEU development program," Chosun
Ilbo reported on March 24.

See "Hyundai Helped Fund N.K. Uranium Program: Expert":

http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/new...0503240018.html

Similar allegations have been presented by Mr. Niksch in previous
CRS reports. But the February 22 CRS report cited in the Chosun
Ilbo story may be found here:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/IB98045.pdf

--------------------
Bird Flu Hits N. Korea in Sore Spot
--------------------

The destitute nation has made a rare success of poultry production, which now faces disaster.

By Barbara Demick
Times Staff Writer

March 31 2005

SEOUL; In recent years, North Korea's Kim Jong Il ordered his army to build chicken farms to fight the country's chronic food shortage and sell poultry abroad for hard currency. Just this month, North Korean-raised chickens were due to be exported for the first time — to South Korea.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...0,6488361.story

--------------------
N. Korea Demands Disarmament Talks
--------------------

Pyongyang says the U.S. should treat it as an equal in negotiations and should remove its nuclear arsenal from the peninsula and region.

From Associated Press

April 1 2005

SEOUL; North Korea said Thursday that the United States should dismantle all potential nuclear threats in the region before it would discuss giving up its own nuclear program, and it demanded to be treated equally in disarmament talks.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...headlines-world

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4400693.stm

US dismisses N Korea talks offer

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/a...p/nkoreanuclear

North Korea switches focus, hopes for nuclear talks diminish

North Korea Wants Japan Out of Nuclear Talks

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=C9C795:2F72C9D

Comment is latest in series of demands, justifications Pyongyang cites
for refusing to return to bargaining table

North Korea says there is no longer any place for Japan in
multinational talks aimed at ending the North's nuclear weapons
programs. The comment is the latest in a series of demands and
justifications Pyongyang has cited for refusing to return to the
bargaining table.

North Korea says it is willing to return eventually to six-party talks
aimed at its nuclear disarmament - but it demanded that Japan withdraw
from the process. A statement carried by the official Korean Central
News Agency accused Japan of what it called the "cunning and vulgar"
intention of exploiting the talks for its own self-interest.

The talks, which also involve the United States, South Korea, China,
and Russia, have been suspended since June of last year, following
three unproductive rounds.

North Korea has demanded Japan be excluded from the talks once before,
in connection with a dispute over Japanese citizens that Pyongyang has
admitted kidnapping in the 1970's and 1980's. Saturday's statement is
only the latest in a series of reasons given by Pyongyang during the
past nine months for refusing to participate in the talks.

International Relations Professor Lee Jong-hoon, of Seoul's Yonsei
University, says North Korea's delays boil down to a basic strategy.

"In the end, it is about North Korea giving up its nuclear weapons
programs and it is not ready to do that just as yet," he said. "So, it
is making up all kinds of excuses."

In February, Pyongyang said it was suspending its participation
indefinitely - saying it already possessed nuclear weapons, and
intended to build more.

Just days ago, it issued a statement implying it wanted to change the
entire focus of the talks, from its own nuclear disarmament to "arms
reductions" by all countries involved. Washington rejected that
suggestion.

Condoleezza RicePyongyang has also refused to talk unless Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice apologizes for referring to the country as "an
outpost of tyranny." It calls such comments proof of Washington's
"hostile attitude."

Ambassador Christopher Hill, the chief U.S. delegate to the six-party
party talks, also says North Korea's refusals to resume the talks are
part of a pattern. In a speech to students in Seoul Friday, he traced
refusals back to last year, when, he believes, Pyongyang was awaiting
the outcome of the November presidential election.

Amb. Christopher Hill"November came and went and still, the North
Koreans have decided they do not want to come back," Ambassador Hill
said. "And so, we now have a problem, because we cannot find another
way to solve this except at the negotiating table."

North Korea experts say Pyongyang regularly seeks opportunities to
drive diplomatic wedges between its five adversaries in the nuclear
talks. Saturday's statement calling for Japan to withdraw made
reference to a current dispute between Tokyo and Seoul over some small
islands between Japan and the Korean peninsula.

The situation has become a highly emotional issue in South Korea.
Despite the dispute Seoul and Tokyo say they will maintain a united
front when it comes to Pyongyang's nuclear weapons.

U.S. Makes New Pitch for N. Korea Talks
(William C. Mann, Associated Press)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?.../w151522D76.DTL

Monday, April 11, 2005
The United States has no intention of invading North Korea and would deal with security guarantees "in an appropriate way" if Kim Jong Il's government would return to multinational talks, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Monday.

"We continue to believe the right place for North Korea to seek to address its concerns is through the six-party talks," Boucher said. "At this point, as I've said, we don't know what their intentions are in terms of actually showing up and conducting serious discussions."

He said North Korea still has not responded to proposals the United States offered in June, when the talks broke down and were followed by increasingly demanding positions from the government branded by the United States as a member of an "axis of evil" and an "outpost of tyranny."

Talks 'Still Best Way to Disarm N. Korea'
(Financial Times - U.K.)
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/5e37258c-aabf-11d...000e2511c8.html

Monday, April 11
Washington is adamant that six-party talks remain the best way to disarm North Korea, in spite of Pyongyang's increasing antagonism and “convincing” evidence that the country has exported weapons-grade uranium to Libya, according to the new US assistant secretary of state for east Asian affairs.

Although the fourth round of talks is seven months overdue, Christopher Hill said Washington's patience had not yet worn thin. “I'm not quite prepared to pull the plug [on the talks process],” said Mr Hill, the former ambassador to Seoul who starts his new job in Washington on Tuesday. “I still think it is the best mechanism for dealing with this and I hope the North Koreans will come round.” Asked when the stand-off will have reached the point of no return, Mr Hill declined to set a deadline, saying: “We'll know it when we see it but we're not there yet.”

Steps at Reactor in North Korea Worry the U.S.
By DAVID E. SANGER
The suspected shutdown of a reactor at a nuclear weapons
complex has raised concerns that North Korea could be
preparing to harvest a new load of nuclear fuel.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/18/politics....html?th&emc=th

North Korean Reactor Shutdown Raises Plutonium Alarm

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=CEE03E:2F72C9D

Plant may contain as many as 8,000 spent fuel rods, which could yield
as many as six to eight nuclear weapons, say experts North Korea
apparently has shut down its main nuclear reactor, in a possible
prelude to reprocessing spent fuel rods into weapons material.

North Korea's spent nuclear fuel rods that are kept in a cooling pond
are seen at the nuclear facilities in Yongbyon in 1996A South Korean
Foreign Ministry official told local media that his government and the
United States have verified that North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear power
plant has been shut down.

Security experts say the plant may have been shut down to permit North
Korea to remove spent plutonium and reprocess into weapons fuel.

Mark Gwozdecky, of the International Atomic Energy Agency, says the
plant may contain as many as eight thousand spent fuel rods. Experts
say that could yield as many as six to eight nuclear weapons. Mr.
Gwozdecky says the agency is unsure how quickly Pyongyang could turn
the rods into weapons material.

"We don't know the state of readiness of their reprocessing facility …
if it's fully operational, then they have a reprocessing capability
that can separate the spent plutonium in a matter of months."

Since February, the North Koreans have repeatedly said they have
nuclear weapons and intend to make more - despite having signed
several agreements in the past to remain nuclear free. Pyongyang has
suspended participation in six-nation talks aimed at ending its
nuclear programs.

Shin Maeng-ho, a director of South Korea's presidential task force on
the North Korean nuclear issue, says they are watching the situation
carefully, but they are not drawing any hasty conclusions.

"It is difficult for me to say about the North Korean intention,
whether they have the intention to reprocess it or not," he said.

Despite repeated assurances by that Washington does not plan to attack
or invade North Korea, Pyongyang says it needs nuclear arms to deter
what it says is a hostile attitude by the United States.

U.S. officials say they are still optimistic a peaceful, diplomatic
solution can still be reached in the framework of six party talks,
which also involve South Korea, China, Japan, and Russia.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/u...nalmaybegrowing

N. Korea arsenal may be growing

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U.S. Sees Bad Sign at N. Korean Reactor
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From Associated Press

April 19 2005

WASHINGTON; The apparent shutdown of a nuclear reactor in North Korea is raising concerns among Bush administration officials that Pyongyang has more spent fuel rods laced with weapons-grade plutonium.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...headlines-world

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/commo...55E1702,00.html

US military nuke deterrent: Rice

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/n..._north_tests_dc

US Sees Nothing Definitive on N Korea Nuke Test