N Korea seeks more plutonium for nuclear arms

Beijing, Sep 23: A senior North Korean official says his country plans to unload fuel rods from its nuclear reactor to obtain more weapons-grade plutonium and put pressure on Washington, a visiting US scholar said today.

Selig Harrison, just back from a visit to the North Korean capital, told a Beijing news conference he had held lengthy discussions with Kim Kye-gwan, Pyongyang's top negotiator at stalled six-party talks on its nuclear ambitions.

''He did make clear that the purpose of unloading the fuel was to obtain more plutonium for nuclear weapons,'' Mr Harrison said.

Mr Harrison, director of the Asia Program at the Centre for International Policy in Washington, said Mr Kim had told him the North planned to unload the rods from the Yongbyon reactor ''beginning during this fall, not later than the end of the year''.

''They want to use Yongbyon as leverage to get bilateral talks with the United States,'' Mr Harrison said. He is one of a very few US scholars with access to senior North Korean officials.

Mr Harrison said he had spent six hours in discussions with negotiator Mr Kim during the September 19-23 visit, and had been told he was the first US scholar to visit North Korea this year.

He quoted Mr Kim as saying that, if Washington conceded the face-to-face talks it has long resisted, ''both sides could put whatever they've got on their minds on the table''.

He said Mr Kim had added, ''We want evidence that the United States is giving up its hostile 'regime change' policy'' towards Pyongyang.

''I'm optimistic that the Bush Administration will climb down in the near future,'' Mr Kim reportedly added.

North Korea, which announced early last year that it now had atomic weapons, agreed at a six-party talks session in September 2005 to dismantle its nuclear programme in return for aid, security assurances and improved diplomatic ties.

It has refused to return to the six-party forum since November in protest at a US clampdown on its international financial dealings.

Reuters