LATEST: North Korea Says "We Have Nuclear Deterrent !"

From Reuters (UK) November, 6, 2003, article by Katherine Baldwin

LONDON (Reuters) - North Korea's envoy in Britain says Pyongyang has a nuclear deterrent that is ready to use and powerful enough to deter any U.S. attack.

Ambassador Ri Yong Ho told Reuters in an interview on Thursday that North Korea would only use its capability in self-defence. Asked if North Korea had a nuclear bomb, he said: "What we are saying is, a nuclear deterrent capability."

North Korea has long hinted that it had a nuclear bomb. It said last month it was prepared to demonstrate the existence of its nuclear deterrent "when an appropriate time comes".

But Thursday's comments appear to be the first time it has explicitly stated that it has a nuclear weapon ready to use.

The ambassador said the deterrent was made with plutonium, most of which was recently reprocessed, and was now ready to use should the United States attack.

The latest crisis in North Korea-U.S. relations erupted in October 2002 when U.S. officials said Pyongyang was pursuing a clandestine nuclear weapons programme that violated its international commitments.

The crisis showed signs of deepening on Thursday when the United States proposed suspending a project to build nuclear power stations in the communist country.

Ri said the suspension, if it went ahead, would have a "very negative impact on the dialogue process" aimed at defusing the standoff.

The reactor project is based on a 1994 agreement under which the North Koreans froze their nuclear arms programme in return for two light-water reactors.

The United States has insisted on a multilateral approach in the nuclear crisis, offering Pyongyang security guarantees short of a formal non-aggression treaty in exchange for a complete, verifiable and irreversible end to the suspected weapons programme.

Ri said North Korea was now ready to make concessions on its initial demands for a formal treaty so as to break the logjam.

"We are prepared to consider written assurances on non-aggression," he said, stressing that Pyongyang would only accept such a deal if Washington itself made genuine assurances.

He said Washington must commit itself to a peaceful coexistence and show a willingness for "simultaneous action", shorthand for both sides taking steps at the same time to answer conflicting concerns and resolve the crisis.

If North Korea deemed Washington's offer to be genuine, it would continue taking part in six-way talks to end the impasse, he said. He would not be drawn on a possible date for new talks.

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