South Korea claims North has fixed nuke rods

SOUTH KOREA’S intelligence agency believes North Korea has reprocessed a small number of spent fuel rods in a step that could yield nuclear weapons materials.

The agency’s report marked the first time South Korea has confirmed the communist North has begun reprocessing its pool of 8,000 nuclear spent fuel rods.

If reprocessed, experts say, those rods can yield enough plutonium for several nuclear bombs within months.

“We believe North Korea has reprocessed a small portion of the 8,000 spent rods,” the National Intelligence Service said in a report to the National Assembly. Since April, North Korea has claimed that it had all but finished reprocessing the 8,000 rods.

Until now, both US and South Korean officials have expressed doubt on the North Korean claim. The US and its allies are pressuring North Korea to abandon its suspected development of nuclear weapons.

The nuclear dispute flared in October when US officials said North Korea admitted running a secret nuclear programme in violation of international pacts. A high-level North Korean delegation warned yesterday “the black clouds of a nuclear war” were approaching, but pledged willingness to work for reconciliation with the south.

The North Korean remarks came on the first day of talks in Seoul between delegations from the South and the North. “No one can fathom the calamitous consequences if the crisis ignites a war,” they said.