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North Korea not yet a nuclear weapons state
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-02-14 11:38

North Korea's declaration that it possesses nuclear weapons does not make it a nuclear weapons state, South Korea's unification minister said on Monday.

South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young talks during a parliamentary session at the National Assembly in Seoul Monday, Feb. 14, 2005. Chung said North Korea hasn't yet conducted nuclear tests, as have countries such as India and Pakistan. At left is South Korean Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung. [AP]

North Korea declared for the first time on Thursday that it possessed nuclear weapons and said it was pulling out of six-party talks in the face of what it called U.S. hostility.

"We see it as a claim to own nuclear weapons, not an official statement of being a nuclear weapons state," Unification Minister Chung Dong-young told parliament. Chung also heads South Korea's National Security Council, which advises President Roh Moo-hyun.

A South Korean Army soldier looks through his binoculars at an observation post at Imjingak pavilion, near the demilitarized zone of Panmunjom, South Korea, Sunday, Feb. 13, 2005. North Korea's declaration that it possesses nuclear weapons does not make it a nuclear weapons state, South Korea's unification minister said on Monday.[AP]

There was no evidence of nuclear testing by the North and it was premature to conclude North Korea possessed nuclear weapons, Chung said.

"There is no doubt that North Korea has 10 to 14 kg (22 lb to 31 lb) of plutonium, but there is no evidence that the North has turned it into plutonium bombs," Chung said.

Pyongyang is probably seeking to boost its negotiating position in the stalled six-country talks on its nuclear programs by making the declaration, Chung said.

South and North Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia met for three rounds of the talks aimed at ending the North's nuclear programs in return for aid and security guarantees. A planned fourth round never materialized.

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