Pyongyang Yet to Declare Nuclear Bombs
By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
North Korea's destruction of the cooling tower at its main nuclear complex in Yongbyon Friday highlights its promise to end nuclear programs, but doubts also remain about whether the world will really be safe from its nuclear threats.
Critics say the meaning of the destruction should not be exaggerated, as the cooling tower, a part of an already disabled reactor, was just derelict.
North Korea is believed to have already manufactured nuclear bombs and have stockpiles of weapons-grade plutonium and nuclear warheads, which were not included in a nuclear report that it submitted Thursday to China, the host of the six-party talks on denuclearization.
On the other side, however, hopes are high that the impoverished state will take steps to improve relations with the United States and its allies, and that the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear programs, which have been stalled since last October, will move forward.
``Many people say the cooling tower demolition is a mere show for the international media and the North will break the promise again to dismantle its nuclear programs,'' said Lee Bong-jo, a former vice minister of unification and now president of the Seoul-based Institute for National Unification. ``However, I rather view it as an encouraging sign showing Pyongyang's willingness to drop its nuclear ambitions and improve relations with Washington.''
An official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the demolition is a symbolic event showing the North wants to go along with the rest of the world. However, its refusal to reveal the core information about its atomic programs has raised doubts about what it really wants, he said.
``There are still many crucial questions unanswered,'' the official said asking not to be named.'
Since Pyongyang started nuclear programs in 1965 with a small research-only reactor from the Soviet Union, it has successfully developed its own reactors, manufacturing and storage facilities for nuclear fuel rods and technologies to manufacture bombs with plutonium abstracted from uranium.
North Korea is believed to have some 35-60 kilograms of weapons-grade plutonium, which could be enough to build six to 10 bombs, according to the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security.
It reportedly produced the plutonium at the Yongbyon complex before 1994, when it agreed with the United States to freeze nuclear development programs in return for aid and a security guarantee.
The complex consists of a five-megawatt reactor, a fuel fabrication facility and a plutonium reprocessing plant, where weapons-grade material could be extracted from spent fuel rods. U.S. satellites had been monitoring whether steam was coming off the cooling tower connected to the reactor, as this was the most visible sign of the plant's operation.
On Thursday, Rep. Song Min-soon of the main opposition United Democratic Party claimed Seoul and Washington have discussed the demolition event since last summer as part of efforts to ease critical voices on North Korea in the United States.
``The two countries pushed for the broadcasting of the cooling tower destruction because they thought it would have an impact on hawkish U.S. politicians,'' Song said in a seminar in Seoul on inter-Korean relations. Song served as minister of foreign affairs and trade between Dec. 2006 and Feb. 2008.
Baek Jong-chun, a former presidential secretary on foreign affairs, said the idea of the demolition was brought up by the South Korean government and confirmed by Washington.
``We wanted to do something in order to accelerate the stalled six-party talks. We proposed the idea and North Korea and the U.S. later accepted it,'' Baek said in a radio program.
South Korean officials said the six countries will gather in Beijing soon to evaluate the North's nuclear report and to map out the next phase of the denuclearization process.
Some officials expressed regret over the omission of core information about Pyongyang's nuclear developments from the declaration, saying it should do more to gain international confidence about its commitment to abandoning atomic programs.
Initially, the North agreed to submit the report by the end of last year, but missed the deadline, citing delayed shipments of oil and electricity equipment that were to be given in return for the North's pledge to end its nuclear dream.
The nuclear declaration was delayed partly because Pyongyang and Washington couldn't reach an agreement on what contents should be in the declaration.
``North Korea says it is not time yet to disclose the information about nuclear bombs and uranium enrichment programs,'' a ministry official said.