By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
North Korea said Saturday it has begun to extract plutonium from spent fuel rods at its nuclear facilities in retaliation for a U.N. panel's condemnation against an April 5 rocket launch.
After the secretive state reaffirmed its boycott of the six-party talks during a foreign ministerial meeting with Russia Friday, the United States urged it to return to the negotiating table to dismantle its nuclear weapons program.
South Korea, meanwhile, said it would keep a close eye on the situation in the North, expressing concerns about the resumption of nuclear activities.
``The reprocessing of spent fuel rods from the pilot atomic power plant began as declared in the Foreign Ministry statement dated April 14,'' a ministry spokesperson was quoted as saying by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
The unidentified spokesman continued, ``This will contribute to bolster the nuclear deterrence for self-defense in every way to cope with the increasing military threats from hostile forces.''
The Stalinist state allowed International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors to enter its territory in 2007 under a six-party disarmament accord promising oil assistance from China, Russia, South Korea, the United States and Japan.
However, the process of disabling nuclear facilities has been suspended since last year due to discord on ways of verifying nuclear activities there.
The North kicked IAEA agents out of Yeongbyeon where its nuclear plant is located a few days after the U.N. Security Council adopted a statement on April 11 criticizing the launch of the rocket and seeking economic sanctions and an arms embargo.
Despite Pyongyang's retaliatory measures, the U.N. panel agreed to impose sanctions on three North Korean organizations Saturday (KST) for their involvement in Pyongyang's banned nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.
The three are the Korea Mining Development Trading Corp., an arms dealer and exporter of ballistic missile material; Tanchon Commercial Bank, which finances sales of conventional arms and ballistic missile material; and the Korea Ryonbong General Corp., a conglomerate specializing in acquisition for North Korea's defense industries.
In response to the global sanctions, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was ``very pleased'' with the decision while hoping to resume the six-way talks with North Korea.
``We continue along with our partners in the six-party talks to press North Korea to return to the obligations which it assumed,'' she said during a visit to Baghdad Sunday.
``We hope that we'll be able to resume discussions with North Korea that will lead to their assuming responsibility for denuclearizing the peninsula,'' she added.
The Stalinist state announced it will quit the talks and nullify accords reached in the meetings after the UNSC adopted the statement.
Describing the North's reactions as ``expected,'' a Cheong Wa Dae official said ``We will cope with the situation with care and flexibility.''