N. Korea could build 55 nukes a year

North Korea could build as many as 55 nuclear weapons a year if Pyongyang decided to power up and operate all three of its frozen nuclear reactors, U.S. officials say.

Reuters reported today that one U.S. official, who requested anonymity, said restarting the Yongbyon facility, as North Korea has begun to do, would yield around six kilograms of plutonium per year. That amount would suffice for one weapon, which generally requires around five kilograms of plutonium.

But output from two unfinished reactors -- a 50-megawatt unit at Yongbyon and a 200-megawatt plant at nearby Taechon – could add as much as 275 kilograms of plutonium annually, or enough for about 50 to 55 weapons, the official said.

American officials were alarmed by North Korea's admission in October that Pyongyang had engaged in a clandestine nuclear weapons development program in violation of a 1994 agreement freezing nuclear development.

In exchange for halting the program, the U.S. agreed to provide North Korea with heavy oil for power and industry, while South Korea and Japan agreed to build a pair of nuclear facilities using technology that made it difficult to harvest weapons-grade plutonium.

After Pyongyang announced it had proceeded with its program anyway, the Bush administration retaliated in November by halting oil shipments. In response, Pyongyang dismantled United Nations surveillance and monitoring equipment at the Yongbyon facility last week and has begun procedures to restart the facility.

The Associated Press, meanwhile, reported that North Korea began moving fresh fuel rods to the Yongbyon reactor yesterday.

South Korean President Kim Dae-jung told a special cabinet meeting today that Seoul could not allow the communist North to develop nuclear weapons. But he also said South Korea must work with the U.S. and other allies in the region through diplomacy and dialogue to convince Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear ambitions.

"We can never go along with North Korea's nuclear weapons development," Kim said in a statement. "We must closely cooperate with the United States, Japan and other friendly countries to prevent the situation from further deteriorating into a crisis."

Kim's five-year term ends in February. He was the moving force behind a policy of engagement with North Korea that resulted in a historic summit in 2000. His successor, Roh Moo-hyun, also supports engaging in dialogue with North Korea in a bid to ease tensions.

Reports today also said Pakistan told U.S. officials two years ago that scientific and military elements within the Islamic country conspired to provide North Korea with technical assistance in developing Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.

The Washington Times reported last month that North Korea is continuing to develop long-range ballistic missiles that could eventually threaten all its Asian neighbors, Europe and parts of the U.S.

Asked if North Korea was continuing to develop its long-range Taepodong-2 missile without any flight tests, Air Force Lt. Gen. Ronald Kadish, director of the Missile Defense Agency, told a group of defense reporters: "All the indications that I see and watch, the answer is yes."

Kadish said U.S. efforts to defend against missile attack were not focused solely on historic competitors.

"It's not about the Soviet Union," he said. "It's about North Korea, it's about Iran, it's about Iraq, it's about Libya and other states that might threaten us in the process."

Stars and Stripes, the newspaper for U.S. military personnel, reported Oct. 26, 1999, that North Korea had deployed four Rodong-I missile battalions throughout the country. The Rodong-I missiles can reach all of South Korea and parts of Japan.

"American officials were alarmed by North Korea's admission in October that Pyongyang had engaged in a clandestine nuclear weapons development program in violation of a 1994 agreement freezing nuclear development."

"In exchange for halting the program, the U.S. agreed to provide North Korea with heavy oil for power and industry, while South Korea and Japan agreed to build a pair of nuclear facilities using technology that made it difficult to harvest weapons-grade plutonium."

Thank you Bill Clinton for your delusionary handiwork putting together the 'Agreed Framework" plan!

"In an astonishing reversal of nine previous U.S. administrations, the Clinton-Gore administration, in 1994, committed not only to provide foreign aid for North Korea, but to earmark that aid primarily for the construction of nuclear reactors worth up to $6 billion," the Cox Committee contended."
Thursday, Oct. 17, 2002 8:09 a.m. EDT
"Clinton Bankrolled North Korea's Nuke Program"

http://www.newsmax.com/showinsidecover.shtml?a=2002/10/17/80959

Yes, Thanks Again Bill Clinton!

Worth repeating, but we could thank a Peanut Brain(less) Jimmah Cahtarr, and of course "Der Schleckmeitser" for what is going on in North Korea. Thank you very much, you two "peace loving" traitorous cretins.

"U.S. intelligence believes North Korea already has one or two nuclear devices."

Pay close attention to the last word in the above sentence: "devices". Not "bombs" but "devices". A "device" is something that goes "boom" but is not a deliverable "bomb". These "devices" are likely very large, too large to put on a missile or airplane, do not have workable fuzes. There are ways to employ them but one must either lure the enemy to the device or transport the device into enemy terrority. IOW, a "device" is not a "weapon".

The bottom line is we have time to deal with Iraq first, then deal with N. Korea before N. Korea can produce a military useful weapon.

The first thermo-nuclear "device" was the size of a multi-story building.

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