N.K. may resume atomic operations soon

North Korea has notified the U.N. nuclear watchdog that it will reintroduce atomic materials into its shut-down nuclear complex at Yongbyon in a week, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said yesterday.

The North barred inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency from the reprocessing plant, and removed seals, monitors and cameras from the Yongbyon facilities which it had disabled under a multilateral denuclearization-for-aid deal, the ministry said.

A senior IAEA official reported this at a meeting of the 35-nation IAEA board of governors in Vienna, Austria on Wednesday, according to the ministry. Seals and surveillance equipment have been removed by IAEA inspectors, at the request of Pyongyang officials, the ministry said.

The IAEA has been monitoring the disabling process of the Yongbyon facilities.

Pyongyang recently began reversing the disablement of its nuclear facilities, in protest against Washington`s decision not to remove the regime from its terrorism blacklist.

"The government is gravely concerned about North Korea`s continued moves to restore the nuclear facilities at Yongbyon. We urge North Korea to resume the disablement process and cooperate in the discussions for a verification protocol as soon as possible," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Moon Tae-young said.

"Our government is cautiously monitoring the situation and closely cooperating with the participating nations in the six-party talks regarding countermeasures."

IAEA officials said earlier that Pyongyang has removed the IAEA monitors, seals and cameras from the Yongbyon complex and that it intends to reintroduce nuclear material there in a week.

"There are no more seals or surveillance equipment in place at the reprocessing facility. (North Korea) further stated that, from here on, IAEA inspectors will have no further access to the reprocessing plant," said IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming on Wednesday after the meeting of the directors` board.

"(North Korea) also informed IAEA inspectors that its plans to introduce nuclear material to the reprocessing plant in one week`s time," Fleming told reporters.

A Seoul official - speaking on condition of anonymity - said that the North appears to intend to insert spent fuel rods into the reprocessing plant.

"It seems that the restoration has gone far," he explained, hinting that the North may begin the work to produce weapons-grade plutonium.

But he added there were no reports yet that the North has begun to draw out its spent fuel rods from a water tank.

So far, 4,800 tons of the 8,000 tons of the rods have been extracted and stored in water tanks. If the North restarts the reprocessing plant, experts say it could create 6-8 kilograms of weapons-grade plutonium from those rods.

Pyongyang recently accelerated its efforts to reactivate its nuclear facilities, citing Washington`s refusal to remove it from the blacklist.

The regime froze its nuclear operations and in November 2007, started to dismantle its Soviet-era nuclear complex, in accord with the six-party agreement. Under the deal - which involves the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia - the North is supposed to complete the disablement work by the end of October, in exchange for 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil or alternative energy and being removed from the blacklist.

Washington maintains that the North should agree to a protocol to verify its nuclear programs declaration, in order to be taken off that blacklist, but Pyongyang has rejected the demand.

Last Friday, North Korean officials said that their government suspended the dismantling of the nuclear facilities and began restoring them to their original state. On Monday, news reports indicated that Pyongyang recently asked the IAEA to remove seals and cameras from its nuclear facilities at the Yongbyon complex.



By Jin Dae-woong



(davidpooh@heraldm.com)