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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (106819)	7/21/2003 12:09:48 AM
From: GST	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Now you say North Korea is not a threat? Get real. It is the number one threat. You have not demonstrated any grasp whatsoever of the security role of the US in Asia and you have not shown any regard whatsoever for safeguarding the national security of the United States of America from real threats. You have, on the other hand, shown an ample taste for silly analogies and a thirst to see the US establish an empire to dominate and control parts of the world that are rich in natural resources and whose political regimes seem to be weak and easily overthrown.

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (106819)	7/21/2003 12:20:29 AM
From: GST	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

North Korea may have second plutonium plant: report Sun Jul 20, 7:42 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - Strong evidence has emerged that North Korea (news - web sites) may have built a second, secret plant for producing weapons-grade plutonium, it was reported. Citing US and Asian officials with access to the latest intelligence, The New York Times said the potential discovery could complicate both the diplomatic strategy for ending the program and the military options if that diplomacy fails. The new evidence came after North Korea announced it had completed processing 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods, which are enough to make about six nuclear weapons. US officials have said they cannot verify that claim, though they confirm that sensors set up on North Korea's borders have begun detecting elevated levels of krypton 85, a gas emitted as spent fuel is converted into plutonium. But American, South Korean and Japanese analysts are concerned not simply by the presence of the gas but also its source, the report said. While American satellites have been focused for years on North Korea's main nuclear plant, at Yongbyon, the computer analyses that track the gases as they are blown across the Korean Peninsula appeared to rule out the Yongbyon reprocessing plant as their origin, according to The Times. Instead, the analysis strongly suggested the gas originated from a second, secret plant, perhaps buried in the mountains, the paper said. "This takes a very hard problem and makes it infinitely more complicated," the report quotes an Asian official as saying. "How can you verify that they have stopped a program like this if you don't know where everything is?" If US suspicions are correct, there may now be at least two hidden facilities with the capacity to produce material for nuclear weapons. In October, North Korean officials admitted that they had clandestinely built a plant intended to produce uranium. According to The Times, US officials say they have never found that plant, though they believe it is still a few years away from full-scale production. North Korea has an estimated 11,000 to 15,000 deep underground military-industrial sites, said the report, citing a US intelligence estimate. "If you follow their logic, if we find a second reprocessing location, maybe there are more," the paper quoted one US official as saying. "It is a reasonable assessment, given North Korea's proclivity to have multiple facilities for every critical aspect of its national security infrastructure." Neither the Central Intelligence Agency (news - web sites) nor the White House would comment on the story. "In general, we do not comment on intelligence matters and, therefore, will not speak to the specifics of the New York Times report," said White House spokesman Brian Besanceney. But an administration official, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, said North Korea's reprocessing of fuel rods concerned the international community because it was "a clear indication that North Korea is attempting to enlarge its nuclear arsenal." "So we will continue to work closely with friends and allies and the countries of the region toward the shared objective of the complete, verifiable and irreversible elimination of North Korea's nuclear weapons program," the official said. story.news.yahoo.com