NKorea reactivates nuclear programme

Published: April 26, 2009

SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea said Saturday it has started reprocessing spent fuel rods to make weapons-grade plutonium, in an apparent response to international punishment against its controversial rocket launch.
The statement came hours after the United Nations slapped sanctions on three North Korean firms accused of backing missile development, in its first concrete action against Pyongyang over the April 5 rocket launch.
“The reprocessing of spent fuel rods from the pilot atomic power plant began as declared in the Foreign Ministry statement dated April 14,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman told the official Korean Central News Agency.
“This will contribute to bolstering the nuclear deterrence for self-defence in every way to cope with the increasing military threats from the hostile forces.”
North Korea on April 14 announced it would quit six-nation nuclear disarmament talks and restart its atomic weapons programme in protest at the UN’s statement condemning the launch.
The North had been disabling parts of the Yongbyon nuclear complex as agreed under a February 2007 six-nation deal involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan. But six-party negotiations stalled last December because of disputes about ways to verify its declared nuclear activities.
Pak Tok-Hun, North Korea’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, denounced the curbs on three Korean firms as a “wanton violation” of the United Nations charter.

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