BEIJING– North Korean officials claim they have "weaponised" their stockpile of plutonium, a US scholar said, in a development that could complicate severely talks to end the regime's nuclear weapons programme.
Selig Harrison said the North Koreans had hardened their negotiating positions considerably and that the prospects for President-elect Barack Obama to make a breakthrough in negotiations were “gloomy”.
North Korea’s belligerent mood was underscored by a fresh threat on Saturday against South Korea.
A North Korean army spokesman warned that South Korean president Lee Myung-bak and his “puppet military war hawks” had “driven our revolutionary armed forces to take a strong step to wipe them out”. The north’s blustery propaganda machine issues so many threats that normally they are shrugged off, but this one was unusual in that it came directly from the army.
Mr Harrison believes that hard-liners within the North Korean military have strengthened their hand recently because of the poor health of leader Kim Jong-il. The 68-year-old leader is reported to be recovering from a stroke suffered last summer.
“He is now making the key decisions, but he is not dealing on a day-to-day basis with details,” Mr Harrison said.
Mr Harrison is a former journalist who has been used by Pyongyang to relay messages to Washington DC. He has travelled frequently to North Korea since 1972 and is one of the few people who has interviewed Kim Il-sung, the country's late founder and father of the current leader.– ( LA Times-Washington Postservice)