North Korea and More Rods

[Annie]

http://www.boston.com/news/world/as...rea_removes_nuclear_rods_from_reactor?mode=PF

N. Korea removes nuclear rods from reactor

By Burt Herman, Associated Press Writer | May 11, 2005

SEOUL, South Korea --North Korea said Wednesday it has completed removing spent fuel rods from an atomic reactor, enabling it to harvest more weapons-grade plutonium. It was the communist state's latest provocation amid deadlocked talks over Pyongyang's nuclear program.

A North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said the country had "successfully finished" removing 8,000 fuel rods from the reactor at its Yongbyon complex, which was shut down last month, so it can "bolster its nuclear arsenal."

North Korea kicked out international nuclear inspectors in late 2002, making it impossible to verify the claim.

While experts have previously said the 8,000 rods could yield enough plutonium for five to eight bombs, South Korean media said the current batch would likely yield material for a couple bombs because of the shorter time it was inside the reactor. To get the plutonium, the rods would need to cool and then be reprocessed, which takes months.

The announcement came a day after China rejected using sanctions to prod Pyongyang to return to six-nation talks on its nuclear ambitions, with a spokesman saying Beijing's political and trade relations with its neighbor should be kept separate.

"We stand for resolving the issue through dialogue. We are not in favor of exerting pressure or imposing sanctions," China foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said at a regular briefing. "We believe that such measures are not necessarily effective." [...]

 

[no1tovote4]

*sigh*

And we paid them with food and directly with money to keep their nuclear power "peaceful". This is what negotiating from a position of perceived weakness gets you. Bilateral talks that fail so miserably that effectively the US paid and fed the Scientists that created the weapons to use against us...

 

[BR-549]

I feel it's becoming very close to an us or them level with Pyongyang. Kim isn't going to listen to reason and unilateral talks with this human piece of horseshit aren't going to produce a thing.. He wants a promise from the US that we will never strike or he will use his nukes against us, S. Korea or Japan.. I'm tellin' ya it's time to fire a cruise missile up his backside, conventionally armed, or better yet, with a nice low yield nuke that will take out their nuclear power plants. Oh and by the way SCREW BILL CLINTON AND JIMMY CARTER for getting us to drag our feet on stopping these a-holes.. The time is now to act before they have the ability to hold us hostage with a missile capable of reaching US soil.. I feel a whole lot more anxiety about the N. Koreans having nukes than ANY TERRORIST ANYWHERE!!!!
For those who think me alarmist or too hawkish then be my guest to look straight at the possibility of having them pop off one in your backyard.. Sooner or later The United States had to know some wackjob regime, without any responsibility, would go nuclear. Time to nip this in the bud before we see mushroom clouds on the west coast..