SEOUL — North Korea took another serious step toward reactivating its nuclear program Sunday, disabling surveillance devices and breaking locks on a storage facility for some 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods, the International Atomic Energy Agency said. Plutonium can be extracted from the rods and processed for use in nuclear weapons.
The move came a day after the IAEA, which monitors nuclear activities for the United Nations and has its headquarters in Vienna, announced that North Korea had broken seals and disabled monitoring devices on a previously mothballed nuclear reactor.
North Korea's actions triggered a new round of international rebukes, expressions of worry and a flurry of weekend diplomacy as concerned Bush administration officials weighed how to respond even as they consider a war against Iraq for allegedly developing weapons of mass destruction.
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell spoke by phone with his counterparts in China, South Korea and Russia on Saturday and Japan and others on Sunday, said Louis Fintor, a State Department spokesman. U.S. officials expressed deep concern about the developments and appeared pessimistic that a quick diplomatic solution could be reached.
"North Korea's action today, disrupting the arrangements for IAEA monitoring of the spent fuel rods, raises further serious concerns and belies North Korea's announced justification to produce electricity," Fintor said. He urged the nation to replace the equipment. South Korea and Japan issued similar messages.
North Korea, in a statement from its official news agency, attributed its actions to "U.S. imperialist policy," specifically citing the recent decision by Washington and its allies to suspend fuel donations to the secretive regime. The donations were being made under a now-collapsing 1994 agreement in which North Korea pledged to repudiate its nuclear ambitions in exchange for energy assistance.
The United States blocked the oil assistance this fall after North Korea acknowledged that it had a secret uranium-enrichment program. Enriched uranium, like processed plutonium, is used in the manufacture of nuclear weapons.
North Korea said Sunday that restarting its nuclear program was necessary in order to produce electricity because the U.S. "unilaterally abandoned its commitment to supply heavy oil."
