North Korea on Wednesday threatened to end a 1994 agreement to freeze its suspected nuclear weapons program, slamming what it called an “antagonistic” US attitude.
The Stalinist state also rejected US President George W. Bush’s demand for a full inspection of North Korean nuclear facilities at its Yongbyon research base.
“The agreed framework is now at risk owing to the US unilateral and antagonistic attitude and stand,” said the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Under the 1994 Agreed Framework, the North froze nuclear development suspected of underpinning an atomic weapons program in exchange for receiving two nuclear energy reactors that produce less weapons-grade plutonium.
The International Atomic Energy Agency wants full inspections of the Yongbyon site north of Pyongyang. The North, however, has refused full access, citing the delayed construction of the new reactors.
The 4.6-billion-dollar reactor project was due to be completed by 2003, but delays have pushed back the finish until at least 2008.
US officials have warned that the construction of the reactors might suffer further delays if the North refuses to allow checks on its nuclear activities.
“Under this situation, the DPRK (North Korea) can no longer underline the significance of the framework now gathering dust but will go its own way, not unilaterally bound to the framework,” the North said.
“The historical process of implementing the agreed framework and the present reality prove that the US side had no political will to sincerely implement it from the outset.”
There have been calls from some conservative politicians in Washington for the deal to be scrapped, and that position was bolstered last month when US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control John Bolton called on North Korea to live up to international non-proliferation commitments.
But General Thomas Schwartz, chief commander of 37,000 US troops in South Korea, has praised the 1994 accord, as a “stepping stone” for future US-North Korean relations.
“It’s the roadmap to the future in my opinion. It is serving us well at this time. It stopped their nuke development, there is no doubt about it,” he told the Senate Armed Services committee in Washington on Tuesday.
Schwartz, however, said North Korea had stepped up its global exports of missile technology.
“They are the number one proliferator of missiles and they are also of conventional weapons,” he said. “That’s where they get their money, that’s how they have kept their economy alive.”
“Just as of late, the last couple of months, it has increased.”
Schwartz said North Korea was exporting various types of missile technology as well as artillery and tanks.
US officials say North Korea’s exports of missile and other weapons technology endangers US security, a concern that has multiplied since the September 11 terror attacks.
US Broaches Egypt-NKorea Missile Cooperation
In related developments, Washington raised the question of possible cooperation between North Korea and Egypt on missile programs during the visit of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak here, a US official said Tuesday.
“We have discussed during this visit with the Egyptians the issue of missile programs and cooperation with North Korea,” a US official said on condition of anonymity.
The official declined to give any further details regarding the discussions or the type of potential cooperation between Pyongyang and Cairo.
According to a Central Intelligence Agency report released in January on weapons of mass destruction, “during the first half of 2001, Egypt continued its long-standing relationship with North Korea on ballistic missiles.”
In November, Mubarak denied South Korean and Israeli press reports that North Korea had reached a secret deal with Egypt to sell medium-range missiles and related technology.
“I have already said several times that we are doing nothing to acquire this kind of weaponry,” Mubarak told the agency at the time, responding to questions about the reports.
“Had there been such a deal, we would have announced it. In today’s world, nothing can be hidden away,” he said.
In his January State of the Union address, US President George W. Bush named North Korea as part of an “axis of evil,” along with Iran and Iraq, for pursuing weapons of mass destruction.
Mubarak arrived here over the weekend for a six-day visit aimed at maintaining the often-strained alliance between Egypt and the United States.
Egypt is one of the United States’ key Middle Eastern allies.
