N. Korea says it has reached the final phase of uranium enrichment

(ATTN: UPDATES with more details, background throughout)
SEOUL, Sept. 4 (Yonhap) -- North Korea said Friday that it has entered a final
phase of uranium enrichment, and is also building more nuclear weapons with spent
fuel rods extracted from its only operating plutonium-producing reactor.
"We've successfully done the experiment for enrichment of uranium and it has
entered the final stage," the North's official Korean Central News Agency said.
"We are also finalizing the reprocessing of the spent fuel rods and the plutonium
extracted (from the reactor) are being weaponized."
The dispatch from Pyongyang was in explanation of a letter the North Korean
permanent representative has sent to the United Nations in New York to respond to
questions from the U.N. sanctions committee on the North Korean arms seized in
waters off the United Arab Emirates recently.
The sanctions committee queried North Korea and Iran about the weapons shipment
in a Bahamas-flagged ship seized by the UAE -- the first seizure of a North
Korean arms shipment under Resolution 1874, adopted after North Korea's second
nuclear test on May 25.
"We don't feel the need to respond to the questions from the so-called sanctions
committee, as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has already stated that
it will neither accept nor be binded by the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1874
of June 13, which not only infringe(s) upon the DPRK's sovereign right and
dignity but also was unduly fabricated," the KCNA quoted the letter as saying.
The KCNA said that the North would not have detonated its second nuclear device
if the U.N. had not taken issue with its rocket launch in April. By contrast, the
global body was mum to the launch of a rocket by South Korea last month.
The KCNA said that North Korea is still committed to denuclearization, but
opposes the six-party nuclear negotiations "as the talks were used for violating
(and) abusing the DPRK's sovereign right and peaceful right to development."
The KCNA added, "However, we've never opposed the denuclearization of the Korean
Peninsula as well as the globe."
North Korea will be ready to deal with any sanctions, and will face the world
with "our strengthened nuclear deterrent," the KCNA said, warning of "further
strong self-defensive measures" if the U.N. continues with sanctions.
hdh@yna.co.kr
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