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N. Korea pushing 'nuclear brinkmanship'
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- North Korea is engaging in "nuclear brinkmanship" by moving to restart its reactor program in defiance of a 1994 agreement, the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog says. Speaking to CNN Thursday Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei of the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that since the North began removing monitoring equipment at its nuclear plants the situation on the Korean Peninsula had become "very worrisome." Without the surveillance systems in operation, North Korea was operating " in total violation of their obligation under the non-proliferation treaty," he said ElBaradei has called an extraordinary meeting of the IAEA's board of governors, tentatively scheduled for January 6, to discuss the North Korean moves. He says he plans to tell the board Pyongyang's actions have left the agency unable to verify that it hasn't diverted nuclear material to make weapons or other devices. ElBaradei's comments came as international pressure grows on North Korea to reverse its decision to restart its frozen nuclear reactors in defiance of a 1994 agreement. In the latest development Australia announced Friday that it was shelving plans to open an embassy in Pyongyang in the light of what it said was North Korea's violation of its non-proliferation obligations. U.S. envoyMeanwhile the Bush administration in Washington Thursday said it was looking at sending an envoy to South Korea as early as next week to coordinate a strategy for dealing with the crisis. The trip would also lay the groundwork for an upcoming visit by South Korean president-elect Roh Moo-Hyun, who President Bush invited to Washington last week. A likely candidate is Assistant Secretary of State James Kelley, to whom North Korea admitted it had a secret nuclear weapons program in October, a senior administration official told CNN. Several of President Bush's top national security advisers are expected to meet at the White House Friday to discuss the standoff with North Korea, and "consider where we are," the official added. However, he added the Bush administration not being pushed into taking action by North Korea, which officials believe is trying to goad the United States into talks on normalizing ties by moving spent fuel rods to a nuclear facility that can be used to make plutonium for use in a nuclear bomb. 'Peace-loving'North Korea, which says it is "peace-loving" and has no nuclear weapons plans, says it is restarting its Yongbyon reactor following a U.S. decision to halt fuel shipments to the country. The IAEA, which still has monitors in North Korea, says workers have already moved 1,000 fresh fuel rods to the reactor site. It is thought that about 8,000 such rods will be needed to restart the reactor. Pyongyang says it now needs the electricity the plant can generate, but in a statement released from IAEA headquarters in Vienna Thursday ElBaradei said the plant was "irrelevant" to North Korea's ability to produce power. The U.N. agency, says it is especially concerned about the possible reprocessing of 8,000 spent fuel rods to extract plutonium, suitable for use in a nuclear bomb. As yet officials say there is no sign of activity at the storage pond -- where the rods are kept -- or the reprocessing laboratory, although without the monitoring equipment in place they say keeping an eye on the facilities will be very hard. Bargaining chip
Speaking to CNN ElBaradei said he believed Pyongyang was using its nuclear facilities as a bargaining chip to extract political and economic concessions from the United States, as well as neighbors Japan and South Korea. "I think they are trying to use their nuclear capability which is supposed to be for peaceful ends to achieve strategic and political objectives, which is totally unacceptable," ElBaradei said. "I hope they will understand that countries are not ready to negotiate under threat, or under blackmail and they should first take the first step to come into compliance with their non proliferation obligations." The United States meanwhile is playing down the urgency of the situation saying the strategic threat posed by the reactivating of the North Korean reactor is not that great. "We have said everything we need to say," a senior Bush administration official told CNN Thursday. "The North Koreans want us to jump through hoops, but it is a lot more urgent for them than it is for us." He said the United States already knows that North Korea has enough fissile material for between two and three nuclear warheads and has already weaponized them. 'Focus on Iraq'The deactivated reactor would only provide enough plutonium for another couple of warheads, the official added. "They are waiting for us to blink, " he said. "But they do not understand we are not the Clinton administration."
The official was referring to the deal struck in 1994, called the Agreed Framework, in which the Clinton administration promised Pyongyang 500,000 tons of fuel a year and two light water reactors if it froze its weapons program. For now, officials say the U.S. strategy is to work closely with South Korea and Japan on trying to defuse the crisis. The U.S. is also putting pressure on Russia and China, both of which have ties with North Korea and, perhaps, some degree of influence, to help find a diplomatic solution. However, the official said the United States has no plans to go to the Security Council for action against North Korea because it wants to focus on Iraq. "We are not going to do anything which interferes with Iraq," he said. -- CNN State Department Producer Elise Labott contributed to this report
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They are trying to use their nuclear capability ... to achieve strategic and political objectives, which is totally unacceptable
