VIENNA — North Korea kicked out U.N. weapons inspectors from a plant that previously produced weapons-grade plutonium and notified the International Atomic Energy Agency that it would restart operations as early as next week, the nuclear watchdog said Wednesday.
The moves mean that North Korea could be reprocessing plutonium in a matter of months.
They also kill what little hope remained that the Bush administration could complete a denuclearization deal in the president's remaining months in office. Although the government in Pyongyang has been warning for weeks that it would restart nuclear activities, the speed and extent of its moves have been discouraging to Washington.
For at least the time being, the three nuclear inspectors will remain at the sprawling Yongbyon nuclear compound, but they will not be allowed into the most important facility: the reprocessing plant that produces the deadly heart of the nuclear bomb.
At the insistence of the North Koreans, the inspectors removed seals and surveillance cameras that were installed last year to ensure that the plant was mothballed.
"This work was completed today. There are no more . . . seals and surveillance equipment at the reprocessing facility," spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said in a statement at the IAEA's headquarters in Vienna. She also said the North Koreans had notified the agency that they intended to "introduce nuclear material to the reprocessing plant in one week's time."
There was no immediate comment from Pyongyang, but officials there recently have made it clear that they are angry because the United States has not followed through on a promise to remove North Korea from its list of "terrorism-sponsoring" nations.
In Washington, the White House said the North Korean moves "are very disappointing and run counter to the expectations" of the five countries involved in talks with Pyongyang over its nuclear program. "These actions will only serve to further isolate North Korea," said Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the White House National Security Council.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, meeting with foreign leaders at the United Nations, said the new developments did not indicate the end of the multinational talks with North Korea. "We've been through ups and downs in this process before," she said.
