North Korea Denies Admitting Secret Nuke Program

ap tbo- ap newswire ^ | Published: Jan 12, 2003 | The Associated Press

[Rain-maker]

North Korea Denies Admitting Secret Nuke Program

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea denied Sunday admitting to U.S. officials that it had a secret nuclear weapons program and said it would unleash a "sea of fire" if the United States challenges the communist country.

The warning came in a commentary from North Korea's state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun and was reported by South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

"The claim that we admitted developing nuclear weapons is an invention fabricated by the U.S. with sinister intentions," the paper said.

The issue is a crux of the current global standoff surrounding North Korea's nuclear ambitions. The United States claimed that the North admitted to having an atomic weapons program in October while U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly was in Pyongyang for talks.

The alleged admission, which would be in violation of a 1994 accord with the United States, prompted the U.S. government to halt oil shipments that were promised to the North under the agreement.

On Sunday, the North Korean paper blamed the United States for the standoff and warned: "If the United States evades its responsibility and challenges us, we'll turn the citadel of imperialists into a sea of fire."

When negotiators reached the 1994 agreement, Pyongyang warned that it would turn the South Korean capital of Seoul into a "sea of fire."

The United States has said it believes North Korea has one or two nuclear weapons and could make several more within six months if it reactivates a plutonium reprocessing plant.

On Saturday, a North Korean official said that plant was ready for operation.

Kelly was due in Seoul later Sunday for talks on ending the crisis.

AP-ES-01-12-03 0131EST

[Squantos]

Are we sure this wasn't kinda like an Osan/Kunsan Genuine Rolex ? .......bootleg Hang Ten products maybe ?

Regards from retired USAF EOD !

[mvpel]

It sounds to me like there's two different groups vying for the podium in North Korea - the warmongers, and the people who understand that goading the US isn't good for the future of the country.