Confirmed uranium enrichment marks new stage in N.Korea nuclear issue

Posted on : 2010-11-22 15:33 KST Modified on : 2010-11-22 15:33 KST
Six-party talks envoys have begun to embark on
 U.S. special representative for North Korea Policy
U.S. special representative for North Korea Policy

By Kang Tae-ho, Senior Staff Writer 

 

A U.S. nuclear expert reported on Saturday that North Korea has a large-scale uranium enrichment facility. Since this facility is capable of making the raw materials for nuclear weapons, the announcement marks a new stage in the North Korea nuclear issue. Following the disclosure, U.S. special representative for North Korea policy Stephen Bosworth set out Saturday (local time) on an urgent visit to South Korea, China, and Japan.

Siegfried Hecker, co-director of the Stanford University Center for International Security and Cooperation, said in a New York Times interview Saturday that during his visit to the country last week, North Korea showed him a large-scale uranium enrichment facility equipped with hundreds of centrifuges.

Heckler added the centrifuges appeared to have been recently built and were operated from an “ultra-modern control room.” He also said the country claimed to have two thousand centrifuges up and running.

Regarding Bosworth’s visit, a South Korean government official said, “We received word from the U.S. suddenly and without prior discussions,” indicating a rapid decision made by the White House after receiving Hecker’s report on the facility, based on the determination that discussions were needed among the participant countries in the six-party talks to resolve the North Korea nuclear issue.

Bosworth arrived in South Korea on Sunday night. On Monday, he plans to meet with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Kim Sung-hwan and Wi Sung-lac, South Korean special representative peace and security affairs, to discuss plans for a response.

Following his visit to Japan last Thursday, Wi also plans to travel to China on Monday to discuss a response to the North Korean nuclear situation with Wu Dawei, Chinese special representative for Korean Peninsular affairs, peace and security affairs, the country’s senior representative at the six-party talks.

On June 13, North Korea’s foreign ministry announced that the country was beginning work on uranium enrichment.

“Following a decision to build an independent light water reactor, development of uranium enrichment technology to ensure nuclear fuel has proceeded successfully, and we have entered the testing stage,” the ministry said at the time.

The decision was North Korea’s response to the United Nations Security Council’s adoption of Resolution 1874 following the country’s second nuclear test on May 23.

Institute for Science and International Security head David Albright’s release of satellite photographs showing a 100 megawatt test light water reactor facility under construction at Yongbyon and Hecker’s report on an enrichment facility containing hundreds of centrifuges conform precisely to the content of this statement from North Korea.

North Korea has consistently stated that its threats are not empty talk, and this has consistently proven to be the case. As reflected in a remark to the New York Times on North Korea’s announcement by a senior Washington official, who called it “typical tactics,” revelations of beefed up nuclear weapons capabilities have been a consistent response strategy by the country since the start of the nuclear crisis.

But the latest revelation about North Korea’s enriched uranium facilities marks a new phase in that the development of highly enriched uranium has now emerged as clear fact rather than suspicion or intelligence for the first time since the second nuclear crisis began in September 2002. Just as Iran has done for leverage in nuclear negotiations, the country has secured the real bargaining card of possible weapons development with enriched uranium purportedly for peaceful use.

Analysts say both South Korea and the United States could pursue additional sanctions, citing the move as a violation of UNSC Resolution 1874. However, there is a strong likelihood that North Korea took into account the difficulty they would encounter in gaining the support of China and Russia. Most notably, the September 19 Joint Statement, which the U.S. has adhered to as a means of resolving the nuclear situation, recognizes the “right to peaceful use of nuclear energy.” As a result, experts say North Korea is likely to push ahead with the argument that its uranium enrichment is intended for peaceful use, in step with remarks made during a meeting with Wu during a China visit on Oct. 15 by North Korea First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan, who said North Korea was prepared to fulfill the conditions of the September 19 Joint Statement.

“North Korea’s uranium enrichment bargaining card clearly shows that it is impossible to solve the problem through sanctions alone,” said Yonsei University Professor Moon Chung-in. “If we do not pursue negotiations, the only choice left is military measures.”

Moon also said, “It was also probably taken into account that of the intimidation methods available to North Korea, including a third nuclear test and a long-range missile launch, uranium enrichment was something China could tacitly accept or tolerate.”

The United States, however, appears unlikely to change course immediately toward dialogue. It has said that it does not intend to resume six-party talks if North Korea does not show concrete steps and sincere actions to indicate that it will abide by past agreements toward denuclearization. The United States now finds itself in a dilemma based on its own stated position, as its approach of refusing negotiations and stepping up sanctions only strengthens North Korea’s rationale for proceeding with uranium weapons development. In this regard, analysts see ample possibility that it may gradually change course toward dialogue.

  

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