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WASHINGTON, Oct 15 - In a stunning development that opens up the possibility of a new crisis in Asia, North Korea, confronted with U.S. "evidence," has acknowledged it is operating a secret nuclear weapons program in violation of a 1994 agreement, senior U.S. officials said on Wednesday.
One official told Reuters that the Bush administration believed North Korea's activities had "effectively nullified the 1994 Agreed Framework," a deal under which the reclusive Communist state promised to freeze its nuclear arms program.
But the officials said the administration was consulting with Congress and allies and had made no decision on the next steps in its relations with North Korea, which has made clear it wants more cooperation with the international community.
President George W. Bush and his administration entered office far more skeptical of Pyongyang than their predecessors in President Bill Clinton's administration.
Bush has included North Korea with Iran and Iraq in what he termed an "axis of evil" of states developing weapons of mass destruction and backing international terrorism.
But while some hard-liners on Bush's team have long looked for ways to scuttle the 1994 accord, analysts said he may be forced to find a way to keep talking to Pyongyang.
Allies Japan and South Korea have been much more willing to work with North Korea.
U.S. officials said that on a recent trip to Pyongyang, Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly presented the North Koreans with documentation about the nuclear activities.
At first the North Koreans balked but eventually "they acknowledged they had a secret nuclear weapons program involving enriched uranium," one official said.
"By acknowledging that, the agreed framework was essentially nullified," he said.
Officials said they could not provide much detail without compromising intelligence sources and methods but once said, "Clearly it's a program that would have provided material that could have been used in nuclear weapons."
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Thanks again, Bill!
Confronted??
Hmmmm .. something is up