North Korea says it has completed plutonium work (1st Lead)

Nov 3, 2009, 8:16 GMT

   Seoul/Beijing - North Korea said Tuesday it has completed reprocessing 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods to obtain plutonium for nuclear weapons.

   The work was completed by the end of August at its Yongbyon nuclear facility, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said.

    The country 'made remarkable achievements in weaponizing the extracted plutonium to strengthen North Korea's nuclear deterrence,' the agency said.

   The Stalinist state earlier this year left international talks aimed at ending its nuclear weapons programme, following Western criticism of its long-range missile tests. In May, North Korea conducted its second nuclear test.

   Undeterred by international protests, North Korea appears to have fully restored its Yongbyon nuclear facility, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported on Monday, citing government officials. The plant is capable of making plutonium for weapons from used fuel rods.

   The country dismantled significant parts of its nuclear facilities as part of a treaty in February 2007 with the US, China, Russia, South Korea and Japan.

   North Korea announced a month ago that it was turning its plutonium stock into new nuclear weapons to increase its arsenal.

   The latest developments are a turnaround from a more conciliatory position taken by North Korea in recent weeks, when it indicated its willingness to return to multilateral talks, albeit only after engaging in successful bilateral talks with the United States.

   On Monday, Pyongyang urged Washington to decide whether it wanted to pursue bilateral talks, or North Korea would 'go its own way.'