North Korea, tells U.S negotiators that it has the Nukes

[Xassan Nasra Allah]

Do you guys think that the gennie is out of the box, and power balance has started ?

 

i mean if they do, then no one will dare to attack them.

here is the article on washington post

 

 

N. Korea Claims to Have Nuclear Weapons, U.S. Officials Say

 

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_____News From North Korea_____

 

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By Glenn Kessler

Washington Post Staff Writer

Thursday, April 24, 2003; 3:54 PM

 

 

North Korean negotiators told U.S. officials in Beijing that the communist nation has nuclear weapons and threatened to export them or conduct a "physical demonstration," U.S. officials said today.

 

Pyongyang has never before admitted it had nuclear weapons, though the CIA has estimated it had the materials for one or two devices. The disclosure at the talks -- the first meeting by North Korean and U.S. officials since October, when North Korea admitted its had a second, secret nuclear program -- suggested Pyongyang was determined to strike a belligerent stance, U.S. officials said.

 

The statement about having nuclear weapons was made during the first day of talks, during the presentation of talking points, and the North Koreans said they had made the same admission in 1993. But U.S. officials have contacted former Clinton administration officials and there appears to be no record of a previous North Korean statement.

 

At one point, one U.S. official said, Li Gun, deputy director of American affairs for North Korea's Foreign Ministry, pulled aside Assistant Secretary of State James A. Kelly and in effect told him: "We've got nukes. We can't dismantle them. It's up to you whether we do a physical demonstration or transfer them."

 

U.S. officials are still puzzling over the statement and its exact meaning, including whether North Korea was threatening to test a nuclear weapon. But, one official said, "it was very fast, very categorical and obviously very scripted."

 

Li also told the Americans that North Korea has almost completed reprocessing 8,000 spent fuel rods -- a statement not confirmed by U.S. intelligence. Officials believe that may just be a bluff, but it is a sobering bluff: Analysts have said the fuel rods can be turned into material for two to three nuclear bombs within a few months.

 

China joined the talks as host and full participant in the discussions that began Wednesday. In its first official comment on the talks, China said the discussions had helped promote understanding and would help in finding a solution. But a U.S. official said that the Chinese privately are in disbelief over the North Korean statements.

 

In what U.S. officials said was a reference to the North Korean statements, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, said in Washington: "North Korea must also come to understand that we will not be threatened. We will not respond to threats."

 

Powell said, "Strong views were presented" at the talks. "The North Koreans presented their point of view strongly; the Chinese did, as well, as did the United States," he said.

 

North Korea, meanwhile, said it was ready to settle the dispute but that the "master key" for successful talks was for the United States to drop its hostile policy toward Pyongyang.

 

"The situation on the Korean Peninsula is so tense that a war may break out any moment due to the U.S. moves," the North's KCNA news agency said, adding that relations with the United States had hit "rock bottom" because President Bush named North Korea as part of an "axis of evil," along with Iran and Iraq.

 

KCNA said the war in Iraq had shown the only way for a country to protect itself was to have a strong military deterrent.

 

It was unclear whether the talks would continue for a planned third day, U.S. officials said.

 

© 2003 The Washington Post Company

[Baashi]

The US is working on how to put the genie back in bottle! They knew that all along..so they claimed. My hunch is they will be taken care of one way or another. The west is devil reincarnation I don't know how they do things but they proved me wrong so many times...they have a way of having drawn plan B. Neo-cons are nuts they are talking about bombing the facilities. Will see! onething is clear though the genie has to go back in the bottle...or Japan and South Korea are compelled to have theirs which they are capable of...and gives Chine a headache.