Word: pyongyang
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After a week of feints, fizzles and frustration, the U.S. seems to have averted a diplomatic meltdown -- at least temporarily -- in its escalating nuclear standoff with North Korea. First, Pyongyang exacerbated the 15-month dispute by beginning to remove plutonium-rich fuel rods from a nuclear reactor without monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency -- which could enable the North to acquire more plutonium for its suspected nuclear arms program. The move prompted the IAEA to issue an unusually blunt statement accusing Pyongyang of a "serious violation" of its commitments under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. And that effectively catapulted...
...been diverted for weapons production and by his own realization that a precipitate push for a trade embargo against North Korea is the fastest road to a dangerous confrontation. Even if sanctions could win approval in the U.N. Security Council -- where China has repeatedly stated its opposition -- Pyongyang has said it will regard the imposition of trade restrictions as an act of war, and could retaliate by invading South Korea...
...enough plutonium to build four or five bombs, and inspectors need to see if all the fuel is still there. The issue is of critical importance because the CIA estimates that fuel rods removed from Yongbyon in 1989 provided the plutonium to build one or two nuclear weapons. Whether Pyongyang actually has them is impossible to know for sure, but scrutiny of the samples would enable the IAEA to discover whether some plutonium was spirited away, and if so, how much...
...samples, it would result in "irreparable loss of the agency's ability to verify" that the plutonium-laden fuel was not being ! diverted for weapons use. But by Friday IAEA officials informed Washington that none of the disputed fuel has so far been diverted -- and on Saturday, Pyongyang invited nuclear inspectors to discuss plans for additional monitoring...
...Pyongyang and Washington collide again over nukes...