North Korea admits nuclear program

MSNBC.COM ^ | NBC, MSNBC AND NEWS SERVIC

[Smogger]

Oct. 17 — North Korea has acknowledged that it has a uranium-enrichment program, which U.S. officials believe would be used only to develop a nuclear bomb, the Bush administration said Thursday. U.S. sources told NBC News that Pyongyang reacted angrily to U.S. accusations about the program and declared an anti-nuclear agreement it signed eight years ago to be “nullified.” Scrambling to deal with the surprise crisis in Asia, the White House dispatched top officials to the region to consult with U.S. allies

NORTH KOREA’S DISCLOSURE has rapidly chilled U.S.-North Korean relations.

The State Department announced that it was shelving plans to move forward with economic and political development help “in light of our concerns about the North’s nuclear weapons program.”

In a statement late Wednesday, the State Department claimed that North Korean officials “acknowledged” the uranium program’s existence after they were presented with “recently acquired information” signaling that the United States knew about it.

U.S. sources told NBC News, however, that North Korean officials did not directly confess to a secret nuclear program when confronted early this month by Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly, who was in Pyongyang for security talks. Rather, the sources said, the North Korean officials did not deny the accusation. Kelly arrived in China on Thursday for consultations with Beijing officials. He also planned to travel to Japan and South Korea.

A knowledgeable source told NBC News on condition of anonymity that the Defense Intelligence Agency discovered the program within the last “couple of months.” Since then, U.S. intelligence has identified a “dozen worrisome sites” related to the program, the source said.

U.S. sources said the secret program consisted of a uranium enrichment program using gas centrifuges, the same technology that has been used to fuel covert nuclear weapons programs in other countries, such as Pakistan. Washington believes Iraq has been trying to acquire the same technology.

[Smogger]

North Korea cannot be allowed to continue to attempt to develop a nuclear weapons program. Good thing we have our doctrine of preemption. After Sadam' N. Korea needs to be next.

[Gumlegs]

North Korea must be lying. After all, Bill Clinton told us the North Koreans were telling us the truth when they said they weren't working on nuclear weapons.

[newsperson999]

CHECK OUT THIS PICTURE

[Broker]

This is the stuff that wins NOBEL Prizes.

[elfman2]

"North Korea cannot be allowed to continue to attempt to develop a nuclear weapons program. Good thing we have our doctrine of preemption. After Sadam' N. Korea needs to be next."

1) This is already posted in Breaking News

2) Preemption is not a formal doctrine

3) Preemption's not automatically triggered by WMDs. We take everything into consideration and respond on our time table on our terms.

[Gumlegs]

Shall we sing a chorus of "Gone Fission"?

[Smogger]

This is already posted in Breaking News.

Please provide a link. I searched but did not find.

[elfman2]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/770463/posts . Same story, different source. There'll probably be a dozen stories on this over the next couple of days, but they shouldn't all be in Breaking News.

[dennisw]

This is very creepy. More evidence that Klinton is a very dark figure verging into anti-Christ territory. As if he wants the world to be terrorized and destroyed by nuclear weapons. North Korea just may be the nation that sells complete nuke packages to 3rd world nations, Arab nations, Jihadists and international terrorists.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

How about the "International."

[Enemy Of The State]

and everyone knows that Bill Clinton would never tell a lie.