North Korea heralds 'remarkable achievements' in nuclear program

17:37, 3 November 2009

MOSCOW. November 3. KAZINFORM North Korea said on Tuesday it had finished the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel rods and claimed "remarkable achievements" in weaponizing plutonium extracted from them; Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.

The statement, reported by South Korea's Yonhap agency, comes after recent hints by the communist state that it would be prepared to return to six-party talks on its nuclear program in exchange for economic and diplomatic incentives.

Yonhap quoted the North's official Korean Central News Agency as saying that Pyongyang had "successfully completed the reprocessing of 8,000 spent fuel rods" by late August and seen "remarkable achievements in weaponizing the extracted plutonium to strengthen North Korea's nuclear deterrence."

North Korea said in April it would start reprocessing spent fuel rods from its Yongbyon nuclear facility in protest against UN criticism of its long-range rocket launch earlier that month; Kazinform cites RIA Novosti.

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