South Korea Differs With U.S.
Sharply differing with Washington, South Korea said Monday that North Korea does not have nuclear weapons and that the United States should open direct talks with Pyongyang.
South Korean Prime Minister Kim Suk Soo said there is no proof the North has produced nuclear arms.
“North Korea is believed to have extracted enough plutonium to make one or two bombs before 1994,” Kim said. “Since there has been no confirmation that it actually has produced nuclear weapons, we believe that they do not have any.”
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said in Germany over the weekend that most intelligence services know the North has “one or two nuclear weapons” and “may have enough nuclear material to make an additional six to eight” by May or June.
The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency is likely to refer the matter to the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday, an agency spokeswoman said. The council could consider sanctions.
North Korea has criticized efforts to bring the nuclear dispute to the council, saying the standoff is between the North and the United States.
South Korea also wants direct U.S.-Pyongyang talks.
But in Washington, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said any talks with North Korea should be in a “multilateral setting.”
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