Report: N.Korea Told U.S. It Will Export Nukes

Reuters ^ | 5/7/03

[truthandlife]

North Korea (news - web sites) threatened during talks in Beijing to export nuclear arms and to add to its arsenal, The Washington Times reported on Wednesday.

Citing U.S. officials familiar with the talks, the newspaper's report said North Korea's negotiator, Li Gun, made the threat during a side meeting with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly.

Li, a North Korean Foreign Ministry official, told Kelly that Pyongyang will "export nuclear weapons, add to its current arsenal or test a nuclear device," one administration official told The Times.

"This was clearly a threat," said another official described as being familiar with reports of the three-way talks among the United States, China and North Korea.

The Washington Times reported that the North Koreans also said that they had nearly finished reprocessing thousands of spent fuel rods that can be used to make atomic bombs.

North Korea's Li reportedly said the course that Pyongyang takes would depend on how the United States responds to its overtures. Kelly rejected the words as a threat and thus unacceptable, The Washington Times reported.

On Monday, a White House spokesman said the Bush administration was concerned about North Korea either possessing or selling nuclear materials but denied a reported shift in policy for dealing with the threat.

"Our position remains the same," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters. "The United States as well as the international community is concerned about North Korea possessing nuclear weapons and potentially transferring nuclear materials to others."

The New York Times reported on Monday that the Bush administration was shifting from a decade-old policy of preventing North Korea from producing nuclear weapons to working to block it from exporting weapons-grade nuclear materials.

[austinite]

Li, a North Korean Foreign Ministry official, told Kelly that Pyongyang will "export nuclear weapons, add to its current arsenal or test a nuclear device," one administration official told The Times.

To DPRK: Try it.

[Dark Wing]

ping

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Any weapon exported from NK to an enemy of the US should be considered sent from the PRC.

[Howlin]

I heard a report on CNN that this little dweeb leaned across the table and looked directly at Kelly and said, "What are you going to do about it?"

[putupon]

Looks more and more like we are going to have export a few of our own.

[Centurion2000]

bump .... NK glass will be the only export commodity in the near future if they keep this crap up.

[skeeter]

One of these times the US's head negotiator ought to reach over the table, grab their DPRK counterpart by the throat & just beat the hell out of him.

Heck, nothing else seems to work.

[Monty22]

I simply don't see how we're going to make it out of this without a nuclear war with China, nk, or both.

So depressing.

[finnman69]

Riiiiiiigggghhhhhhttttttt.

[rudypoot]

It's a bluff. Until they get a bribe offer, they will keep saying this stuff.

[Dead Dog]

Well, that simplifies our problem.

[CygnusXI]

Well...

Looks like we will see a nuke here in the US eventually, and then NK go bye bye.

[The Pheonix]

"China told NK to get rid of Nukes", and then China will guarantee NK's Security

from the Straits Times Interactive,
a few days ago

Articla said China had told NK that she would guarantee her(NK) security, if NK would:

get rid of all nukes

sort out the issue diplomatically with the US

start ralking unification with the South

[steveegg]

Until they get a bribe offer, they will keep saying this stuff.

I've got an offer that Krazy Kim Jong Il can't refuse; give up the nukes and we might let him live until he dies by the hand of his countrymen.