SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea threatened Wednesday to conduct nuclear and missile tests unless the U.N. apologizes for criticizing its April 5 rocket launch, dramatically raising its stake in the worsening standoff over its atomic programs.
North Korea is known for harsh rhetoric, but it is unusual for it to threaten a nuclear test.
The North’s ministry also said the country will build a light-water nuclear reactor and start developing technologies to produce nuclear fuel.
Pyongyang conducted its first-ever atomic test blast in 2006 and is thought to have enough plutonium to make at least half a dozen nuclear bombs. But experts have said the country is not believed to have mastered the technology to make a nuclear warhead small enough to put on a missile.
The U.N. Council adopted a statement earlier this month denouncing the North’s rocket launch and calling for tightening sanctions. Pyongyang has claimed the rebuke is unfair because the liftoff was a peaceful satellite launch. But the U.S. and others believe it was a test of long-range missile technology.
Wednesday’s threat came days after the North said it had begun reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods at its Yongbyon nuclear complex — a move aimed at harvesting weapons-grade plutonium.
Maximizing stakes
"The North is trying to maximize the stakes as the United States keeps ignoring it,” professor Kim Yong-hyun at Seoul’s Dongguk University said of the threat.
by the associated press
North Korea is known for harsh rhetoric, but it is unusual for it to threaten a nuclear test.
The North’s ministry also said the country will build a light-water nuclear reactor and start developing technologies to produce nuclear fuel.
Pyongyang conducted its first-ever atomic test blast in 2006 and is thought to have enough plutonium to make at least half a dozen nuclear bombs. But experts have said the country is not believed to have mastered the technology to make a nuclear warhead small enough to put on a missile.
The U.N. Council adopted a statement earlier this month denouncing the North’s rocket launch and calling for tightening sanctions. Pyongyang has claimed the rebuke is unfair because the liftoff was a peaceful satellite launch. But the U.S. and others believe it was a test of long-range missile technology.
Wednesday’s threat came days after the North said it had begun reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods at its Yongbyon nuclear complex — a move aimed at harvesting weapons-grade plutonium.
Maximizing stakes
"The North is trying to maximize the stakes as the United States keeps ignoring it,” professor Kim Yong-hyun at Seoul’s Dongguk University said of the threat.
by the associated press
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