Free Republic

SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea (news - web sites) must not conduct any more nuclear experiments without notifying the United Nations (news - web sites), because any secret nuclear activity, however small, is a matter of "serious concern," the U.N. nuclear chief said Sunday. The comments in Seoul by Mohamed ElBaradei, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, came after North Korea (news - web sites) warned that the South Korean experiments had disrupted a dialogue between the two Koreas. "It will be impossible to expect any development of inter-Korean relations unless the truth about South Korea's secret nuclear...

SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea insisted Saturday it will never develop nuclear weapons, but North Korea ruled out dismantling its weapons program or resuming negotiations unless U.S. drops its policy of "double standards" on the two countries' activities. North Korea has seized on a recent South Korea acknowledgment of a plutonium-based nuclear experiment years ago, linking it with its own nuclear efforts and a tough stand in six-nation negotiations the United States is pushing to get North Korea to end its nuclear weapons program. Seoul's revelations threatened to disrupt already troubled efforts to persuade Pyongyang to end its nuclear...

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea acknowledged Thursday that it conducted a plutonium-based nuclear experiment more than 20 years ago, shortly after it admitted to scientific tests involving uranium.