North Korea 'may have six bombs'

[taleast]

By Bethany Bell
BBC News, Vienna

IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei
ElBaradei wants Pyongyang to return to the negotiating table
UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohammed ElBaradei has told US television his agency estimates that North Korea could have up to six nuclear weapons.

Recent reports say North Korea is preparing to test a nuclear bomb.

In an interview with CNN, Mr ElBaradei said Pyongyang had enough plutonium to make five or six nuclear weapons.

He went on to say that his agency knew the North Koreans also had the "industrial infrastructure to weaponise this plutonium".

North Korea announced in February that it had nuclear arms.

Inspectors for the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have been unable to verify the claim because they were kicked out of North Korea at the end of 2002.

Shunned talks

An IAEA spokeswoman, Melissa Fleming, told the BBC there was no way the agency could know for sure whether North Korea had six bombs.

But she said it would not be surprising if it did.

Pyongyang has shunned multilateral talks on its nuclear programme for almost a year.

Recently, reports have suggested it is preparing to test a nuclear bomb.

Mr ElBaradei has warned that a nuclear test would have disastrous political and environmental consequences.

He has urged Pyongyang to return to the negotiating table.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4528011.stm

[sniffa]

1. thank god the competent guy got eLected

[Catt03]

2. If this continues...I fear .we are dust

While Condileeza and Bush run all over the world causing chaos in other
countries, North Korea sits happily making nuclear bombs.

Of course Bolton set Kim Jong straight. "get rid of those bombs you "fat, maniacal munchkin."

We will be at war with N Korea within 3 months.

[teryang]

3. Don't think we will be at war over this

Not unless we work some things out with China first.

South Korea won't go along with it either.

We got our asses kicked during the Korean conflict. We don't even have soldiers to fight such a war now. The South Koreans can't engage the north alone, because of the Chinese threat. It is doubtful that the United States could even field a suitable ground force on the Asian mainland against China. It would be political suicide at home.

Whatever the outcome, post unification, Korea (meaning a Korea dominated by the south Te Han Min Gook) will be nuclear armed because of the relative power of its neighbors, who just can't seem to refrain from invasions. The United States can't play the role of honest broker anymore. Too many amateur ideologues in the government who imagine themselves to be the von Metternichs of the modern world. They are going to surround Russia, surround China, and role back the power of China in the eastern hemisphere. Fat chance. In relative terms, in Asia, our power is declining.

I do think that China would give up its sphere of influence in North Korea which it earned during the Korean conflict, if an accomodation on the Taiwan issue could be reached. This is one reason why the North benefits from nuclear weapons bluster. The real issue is nuclear power not nuclear weapons and integration into the world economy. How do we get from here to there, with threats and sanctions? This was all negotiated out in 1994 with postive incentives. The neo cons viewed it as appeasement and sabotaged the agreement. They know nothing about war in Asia. Everything they think they know is a delusion.

They are bluffing pure and simple.

[Catt03]

5. Appreciate the post

more information I get, the better.

Thx

[psychopomp]

8. I could throw a rock from my front door

and practically hit N Korea and I am not worried about them in the least so I don't know what you are worried about.

NK is only a problem if the U.S. decides to make a problem out of it and if it does so it will not have the support of any of the other actors in the region.

[Ian David]

4. My advice to North Korea: Don't disarm. It didn't work for Iraq

I think they're doing exactly the right thing.

They need those bombs.

They need to play the game of brinkmanship that we played with Russia for decades.

[DS1]

6. six bombs is 8 letters, if the CIA was a miraculous 87% right, that would

leave N Korea with sex bombs :D



give or take

[number6]

7. did somebody say 6

smirk boy at work purtectin murika :eyes:
and now its to bomb ee-ran ???

[Moderator]

9. kick to combine

[brettdale]

10. IAEA: N. Korea could have 5-6 nuclear weapons

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/05/08/north.korea/index.html


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said Sunday his agency estimates North Korea could have five or six nuclear weapons and that a North Korean nuclear test could "open a Pandora's box."

Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, was asked on CNN's "Late Edition" whether the agency's assessment was that North Korea now possesses as many as six nuclear bombs.

[JRob]

11. IAEA: N. Korea could have 5-6 nuclear weapons

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/05/08/north.korea/index.html

Close treaty loophole allowing Iran enrichment, ElBaradei says
Monday, May 9, 2005 Posted: 0518 GMT (1318 HKT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog says his agency estimates North Korea could have five or six nuclear weapons and any test carried out by Pyongyang could "open a Pandora's box."

Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, was asked on CNN's "Late Edition" whether the agency's assessment was that North Korea now possesses as many as six nuclear bombs.

"I think that would be close to our estimation," ElBaradei said.

"We knew they had the plutonium that could be converted into five or six North Korea weapons," he said.

[Moderator]

12. taleast

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the
copyrighted news source.


Thank you.

DU Moderator

[Jacobin]

13. I "might" win the lottery tomorrow

Accordingly, I shall purchase a yatch today.

WTF is all this 'might' stuff?

[lateo]

14. monkies "may" fly out of my butt...

film at 11

[SGBL]

15. Who cares if they did?

They aren't going to use them. They are only building them to prevent being Iraq'ed like most other nations are probably doing now.