Posted on 01/24/2005 1:07:10 PM PST by nickcarraway
A top North Korean official told a U.S. delegation on a recent visit to the communist state that it possesses nuclear weapons, which some analysts say is the first such official acknowledgement, a U.S. radio station reported.
But some South Korean experts and a senior government official played down the remarks.
Radio Free Asia said on Friday that Curt Weldon, vice chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, claimed North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan told the delegation during its Jan. 11-14 visit that the North possessed nuclear weapons.
Kim said, however, that the North's nuclear arsenal was defensive in nature and Pyongyang did not intend to possess it forever, RFA quoted Rep. Weldon as saying.
The U.S. lawmaker also said North Korea's deputy leader and the president of its assembly Kim Yong-nam said that Pyongyang had learned from the examples of India, Pakistan and Israel that the North could only defend itself from attack if it had nuclear arms.
North Korea is believed to have built one or two nuclear weapons, and possibly more than eight, using spent plutonium.
Six-party talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions have yet to make any headway, with a fourth round delayed since September 2004.
No official comment was immediately available from the South Korean Unification Ministry.
"The credibility of the remarks should be checked thoroughly first," a senior ministry official said, requesting anonymity.
The official noted there have been many instances of North Korean officials making and then withdrawing statements about the North possessing nuclear weapons.
In September, Pyongyang's Vice Foreign Minister Choe Su-hon claimed after a U.N. speech that Pyongyang has reprocessed and "weaponized" 8,000 spent plutonium fuel rods as a deterrent against U.S. hostility.
South Korean experts said North Korea's latest declaration of possession of nuclear weapons is another negotiating tactic to increase its bargaining position in the stalled six-party negotiations involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.
"The declaration is aimed at bringing Washington to the negotiating table, as they think Washington has yet to show any promise for the survival of the regime and economic assistance," professor Lee Chul-ki at the department of International relations at Dongkuk University said in a telephone interview. "I think North Korea might have developed nuclear explosive devices, but that does not mean it has weapons," he said.
He said North Korea stressed that it could discard its nuclear ambitions if the United States gives up its "hostile policy" and promised survival of its regime.
The reported remarks by Kim Kye-gwan to the six-member Weldon delegation came a week before U.S. President George Bush launched his second term.
Kim Yong-nam was also quoted as saying the North did not intend to retain its nuclear weapons program on a long-term basis and expressed the hope for favorable bilateral relations.
"The president of the country said that he foresaw the day when America and North Korea would be friends," the RFA quoted Weldon as saying last week about his meeting with Kim Yong-nam.
Paik Hak-soon, director of the Center for North Korea Studies in Seoul's privately operated Sejong Institute, noted no clear evidence of nuclear tests so far to regard the North as a nuclear weapons state. He said Kim's statement hints at its desperation in ensuring channels to talk for the regime's survival.
But Paik said Pyongyang is inching toward becoming a nuclear state, as it thinks Washington has showed no intention to resolve the nuclear issue.
Kang Jung-min, a nuclear expert at Seoul National University, was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency that it is highly likely for the North to develop crude nuclear weapons targeting U.S. bases in South Korea.
Why is it always on Mondays?
We have a few devices ourselves. I am sure there is a boomer out there with the appropriate coordinates.
North Korea says it possesses nuke weapons
...now, we know where some of the Soviet's suitcase bombs are?
Apply a little carrot.
Then some stick.
A little more carrot.
Some more sticks.
How bout some more carrots?
More sticks?
It will go this way for years. The DPRK will continue it. They will also warm up to one of the five parties (Rus-PRC-ROK-US-Japan), and bash the remaining four in the same week as being 'not cooperative'. Their latest ploy was to (last week) say through a US Congressman that 'they could be friends with the USA', followed by an attack on Japanese 'intransigence.' Condi played it well because she came right in to Japan's defense, and dealt up the DPRK a heaping, steaming plate of "Outpost of Tyranny" classification for Kim Jong il, just in time. She won't let them drive wedges between the other five parties.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
I say he's bluffing.
Warm up the MOABs and the diamond tips. Get a six pack. This could get fun real fast.
But didnt jimmie Karter and phil Klinton protect us against this??????
How many time the media recycle the same story as a new one?
Of course Jimmy ain't got a clue and Billy don't lie.
Arafat is dead.
I think 75% of the rhetoric must be a bluff cause they change their positions just about every other week.....
Just in....... Generalisimo Francisco Franco is still dead.
"But didnt jimmie Karter and phil Klinton protect us against this??????"
You mean Jimminy Carter - winner of the Appease Prize?
They didn't and neither has Bush.
"But didnt jimmie Karter and phil Klinton protect us against this??????"
Exactly. Another example of how "negotiating" meaning bribing them to shut up for awhile does not work. I remember seeing many articles by the CIA claiming they most likely possessed 4 nuclear weapons as early as 1992.
My opinion is that we will continue to not cave in to their black-mail and that they will attack South Korea in the next two to three years. They are basically demanding that we prop up their regime with aid like Clintoon did and use the money to further advance their military capabilities. Since the regime cannot indefinately support their massive military it becomes a "use it or lose it" scenerio.
I really hope we get our troops out of North Korea and when they attack, we provide air support to the South only.
"Lay it all on the table. Notice I placed the word "suspected" in there. Basically you gotta tell NK they better damn well police their *hit. No bull games on this one. Just as Kennedy stated during the Cuban missile crisis that any launch from Cuba at the US or any allies will result a full nuke response by the US against the Soviets. No wiggle room for the bastards. We'll see how great they think having a nuke is when they have the economic and military pressure of the world against them."
I have a feeling we have already done that. They are and have proliferated missle technology to Iran and Pakistan rather then plutonium at this point. I believe they will attack South Korea conventionally and would use their nukes on one of our allies such as Japan if and when we interceed. They could also use them to attack our fleet if/when we interceed. Since their capabilities to produce nuclear materials are limited, I do not believe they would smuggle it to the terrorists, but use it for the purposes mentioned above.
Yes, they protected us through their liberal happy talk and delusions of grandeur. Klintooon and Carter would F-Up a wet dream. All they were saying is, give peace a chance. It took a village to raise carter and klintoon. NSNR
Carter and Clinton really helped our interests in the Panama Canal fiasco (sarcasm). Got to hand it to the libs.
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