N Korea admits to owning nukes

2003-05-09 09:45

Tokyo - North Korean negotiator Li Gun admitted during three-way talks with China and the United States in Beijing last month that Pyongyang possessed two nuclear bombs, a Japanese newspaper reported on Friday, quoting unnamed US sources.

"We already possess two nuclear bombs," Li was quoted by the Sankei Shimbun as telling US assistant secretary of state James Kelly on April 23, the first day of the three-day talks.

"In order to construct further nuclear weapons, we have already begun nuclear fuel reprocessing to acquire the necessary plutonium," Li was quoted as saying. "Our country will use any means to show our nuclear weapons capability."

The US officials interpreted "any means" to include transfering the bombs to third parties who would use them for terrorist ends, the paper said.

It was the first time North Korea was quoted as having specified the precise number of its nuclear weapons, the paper said. US officials have said previously they had assumed for years North Korea owned "one or two" nuclear bombs.

The report comes one day after South Korea confirmed new activity at North Korea's nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities late last month.

South Korean defence minister Cho Young-Kil said Seoul's top priority should be "perfect combat-readiness" to handle any new provocations.

On Wednesday The Washington Times reported that North Korea had, during the talks in Beijing, threatened to export its nuclear weapons, make more of them, or conduct tests.

- AFX