Vice Foreign Minister Choe Su Hon declared at a press conference today that "We have already made clear that we have already reprocessed 8,000 wasted
fuel rods and transformed them into arms,". No information on the number of weapons or Their yields were provided. He furthermore stated that the
danger for war on the Korean peninsula is “snowballing” due the policies of the United States. In light of this, Choe stated that the North had "no
other option but to possess a nuclear deterrent"
www.foxnews.com
UNITED NATIONS — North Korea has turned plutonium from 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods into weapons to serve as a deterrent against a possible nuclear
strike by the United States, a North Korean minister said Monday.
Warning that the danger of war on the Korean peninsula "is snowballing," Vice Foreign Minister Choe Su Hon blamed the United States for intensifying
threats to attack the communist nation and destroying the basis for negotiations to resolve the dispute over Pyongyang's nuclear program.
Without specifying what kinds or the number of weapons it has, Choe said North Korea has been left with "no other option but to possess a nuclear
deterrent" because of U.S. policies that he claimed were designed to "eliminate the DPRK by force while designating it as part of an `axis of evil'
and a target of pre-emptive nuclear strikes."
DPRK stands for Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.
When asked if the fuel had been turned into actual weapons, not just weapons-grade material, Choe said: "We declared that we weaponized this."
In Washington, a State Department official noted that the administration has long believed North Korea has at least one or two nuclear weapons. The
official, who asked not to be identified, also said the North Koreans have made conflicting statements about how far along their weapons development
programs have come.
Please visit the link provided for the complete story.
A State Department official stated the it was an administration belief that North Korea already possessed one to two devices already. According to
South Korean officials the processing of the 8000 rods would result in about eight nuclear devices. North Korea has refused to return to six nations
talks until as it puts it ‘Washington drops its hostile policy” towards it. They further accuse the United States of threatening pre-emptive strikes
on Their country. However, Secretary of State Colin Powell , has made several statements that the United States have no plan to do this. The
negotiations have been further complicated by the recent revelation the South Korea had carried out experiments in uranium enrichment. The North has
demanded further detail of the program that took place 20 years ago. The IAEA is currently investigating.
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Something needs to be done about this. NOW.
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Yup, makes US think twice before attacking a country with nuclear weapons. Of course they can attack and let South Korea and Japan take the
retaliation of North Korea but that would be a bit  from US.
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There is a fundemental problem in dealing with Kim. I have a two year old and it struck me the other day of the parallels between the behavior of the
two. The tantrums, the inconsistencies, the ego centrism etc etc etc. Keeping my son in check as the superpower in my household is tough enough. I
can't imagine if he had nuclear weapons as well. You simply cannot reward Kim for his behavior, nor can you attack him without precipatating a huge
regional crisis as well. Its a tough spot for the US to be in.
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All just posturing. It seems like everyone keeps ingnoring what was world news just a few years ago... the anti-ballistic missle shield networks. We
walked out on talks that caused even greater tension between the U.S. and it's opponents. We actually have this tech and it's both land and ship
based. The U.S. and it's allies should feel safe (except for S. Korea). South Korea is kinda screwed no matter how this goes down. N. Korea wouldn't
need nukes to reduce S. Korea to ash.
This conflict cannot end peacefully and will most likely end with a crushing defeat for N. Korea. I agree with FredT... Kim is either a rather large,
spoiled child or he's freakin' nuts.
All I can say is... pray for all Koreans both North and South, because they're in for one helluva ride (again).
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If it were a chess game...................................
China vs. US
Then Japan, South Korea and Taiwan would be capitol pieces for the US
China unable to make a direct attack on any single piece or combination of the three without getting checkmated, needs North Korea as its gambit to
distract the US from its true goal of capturing Taiwan.
Thus China forments and supports crazy Kim into possible war with South Korea and the US.
If that happens look for China to make its long awaited attack on Taiwan.
End result; NK overuns SK because US cannot resupply conventional forces fast enough and will not make first use of Nukes - NK and SK use their
limited nuke stocks to horror of people in the west.
China simultainously invades Taiwan with the west vacillating about a wider nuclear conflict.
Japan ends up isolated in the region.
Checkmate
(spell)
[edit on 28-9-2004 by Phoenix]
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