North Korea admits having nuclear weapons

February 10, 2005

[:"blue"] Here is a cheery news item. Congratulations to the Bush adminstration for successfull engaging another country in reduction of WMDs...oh, wait...they are retaining thier WMDs...sorry.. [/]

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea announced for the first time Thursday it has nuclear weapons, and it rejected moves to restart disarmament talks anytime soon, saying the bombs are protection against an increasingly hostile United States.

The communist state's statement dramatically raised the stakes in the 2-year-old nuclear confrontation and posed a grave challenge to President Bush, who started his second term with a vow to end North Korea's nuclear program through six-nation talks.

"We ... have manufactured nukes for self-defense to cope with the Bush administration's evermore undisguised policy to isolate and stifle the (North)," the North Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency. The news agency used the colloquial term "nukes" in its English-language account.

The claim could not be independently verified. North Korea expelled the last U.N. nuclear monitors in late 2002. It is not known to have tested an atomic bomb, although international officials have long suspected it has one or two nuclear weapons.

The CIA has estimated that with a highly enriched uranium weapons program and the use of sophisticated high-speed centrifuges, North Korea could be making more. Some analysts and observers have put the estimate at six to eight.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the North had no reason to believe the United States would attack.

"The North Koreans have been told by the president of the United States that the United States has no intention of attacking or invading North Korea," Rice said in Luxembourg. "There is a path for the North Koreans that would put them in a more reasonable relationship with the rest of the world."

Previously, North Korea told international negotiators in closed-door talks that it had nuclear weapons and might test one of them, South Korean officials say. The North's U.N. envoy told reporters last year the country had "weaponized" plutonium from its pool of 8,000 nuclear spent fuel rods. Those rods contained enough plutonium for several bombs.

Peace talks

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Chronology of North Korea's nuclear weapons development

A timeline of North Korea's nuclear weapons development:

December 2001: President Bush warns Iraq and North Korea they would be "held accountable" if they develop weapons of mass destruction.

Jan. 29, 2002: Bush labels North Korea, Iran and Iraq an "axis of evil" in his State of the Union address.

Oct. 16: U.S. officials say North Korea admits having a secret uranium enrichment program, key to development of nuclear weapons.

Nov. 11: The U.S. and its key Asian allies Japan and South Korea decide to halt oil supplies to North Korea promised under a 1994 deal.

Dec. 12: North Korea announces it is reactivating nuclear facilities at Yongbyon that were frozen under the 1994 deal with the United States.

Jan. 10, 2003: North Korea says it will withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Feb. 6: North Korea says it has reactivated its nuclear facilities.

April 23: U.S. and North Korean envoys begin talks in Beijing to try to resolve standoff.

April 24: North Korea tells U.S officials privately that it has nuclear weapons and may test, export or use them depending on U.S. actions, according a senior American official. The North reportedly offers to give up its nuclear program in return for large amounts of aid.

May 12: North Korea withdraws from a 1992 agreement with South Korea to keep the Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons.

Aug. 27-29: North Korea joins the first round of six-nation talks on its nuclear program in Beijing, which include China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States.

Feb. 25-28, 2004: Second round of six-nation talks.

June 23-26: Third round of six-nation talks.

September: North Korea refuses to attend a planned fourth round of six-party talks, accusing the United States of "hostile" policies toward it.

Jan. 18, 2005: Secretary of State designate Condoleezza Rice refers to North Korea as one of the "outposts of tyranny" in the world.

Feb. 2: Bush softens his tone on North Korea, making only one reference to it in his State of the Union address: "We are working closely with governments in Asia to convince North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions."

Feb. 10: North Korea announces in a Foreign Ministry statement that it has nuclear weapons, says it is staying away from six-nation talks.

February 11, 2005

U.S. rejects North Korean demand for direct talks

White House contends six-party negotiations must be resumed

Friday, February 11, 2005 Posted: 5:33 PM EST (2233 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States reaffirmed its opposition to two-way talks with North Korea on its nuclear weapons program after the communist state on Friday again demanded bilateral discussions.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said North Korea would have plenty of opportunities to raise issues directly with the United States if it agreed to resume six-party talks. Those have been on hold since Pyongyang withdrew last year.

North Korea stunned the world Thursday when it publicly admitted to having nuclear weapons and announced it was withdrawing from the multilateral negotiations.

The Bush administration consistently has opposed two-party talks, while North Korea has insisted on a bilateral nonaggression pact with the United States before it will consider dismantling its nuclear program.

As a result of direct talks, North Korea and the United States signed a 1994 agreement in which Pyongyang pledged to freeze and eventually dismantle its nuclear weapons program in exchange for international aid to build two power-producing nuclear reactors.

But the White House has said North Korea's neighbors -- with a greater stake in the negotiations -- also must sign a new agreement.

"It's a regional issue," McCellan said, not an issue between North Korea and the United States.

South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon is in Washington for consultations with U.S. officials, including a Friday meeting with Vice President Dick Cheney.

[:"blue"] Explain to me why the US will not tallk directly with the N. Koreans. It seems they want high level reasurances that the US has no plans for hostility toward them. What is wrong with sitting down and talking with them and giving them reasurrances that we have no plans to invade/bomb thier country provided they give up the nukes?[/]