Korea, U.S. Keep Tussling Over Civilian Nuclear Energy

An agreement between Seoul and Washington allowing Korea to enrich uranium and reprocess spent fuel rods that are piling up in storage is unlikely before the end of the year. Both sides had aimed at an agreement within this year but were unable to narrow their differences.

Gaining permission to enrich uranium and reprocess the masses of spent fuel rods has been the main goal of the government in more than four years of negotiations with the U.S.

A 1974 nuclear energy pact between Korea and the U.S. bans Korea from enriching uranium and reprocessing its own spent nuclear fuel.

The two sides planned their final round of talks this year on Wednesday and Thursday, and Korea's chief negotiator left for Washington on Tuesday. But a government source said, "The differences won’t be resolved this time, and there is no time for another round of talks within this year."

A senior government official told reporters in Washington, "The timing of the agreement is important, but the content of the pact is more important. We're not going to race against the clock but try our best to ensure that a solid and future-oriented deal is made."

The official said the talks were at the stage of ironing out "a few remaining issues."

Seoul and Washington had been in talks since 2010 to revise the 1974 agreement, which expired in March this year. But they two sides extended the deal until March 2016 due to difficulties narrowing differences.

An agreement must be reached early next year considering the time it will take for parliaments on both sides to ratify the deal. A government official said, "We don't have much time left."

The two sides have agreed on the main framework and were optimistic that a deal could be announced within this year. But mounting public criticism over some details slowed them down.

One diplomatic source said, "The deal is very complicated and it's important to gain public support, which was thought unlikely in its present form."

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Israel Warns of N.Korea-Iran Nuclear Link

Israel on Thursday claimed to have intelligence that Iran acquired missile and nuclear technology and expertise from North Korea in exchange for huge amounts of financial support over the past years.

The claim was made by Yuval Steinitz, the Israeli minister of strategic and intelligence affairs, according to the U.S. news website World Tribune. It comes in the context of a wider Israeli campaign to shore up U.S. support for a hard line on Iran.

He noted that the international community has failed to keep North Korea from developing nuclear weapons despite years of talks with the North, and claimed Iran too could bypass international sanctions.

"We all know that Iran, Syria and North Korea are very close to each other," World Tribune quoted Steinitz as saying, "Any nuclear accord with Teheran would be meaningless without addressing its alliance with Pyongyang."

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N.Korea Threatens Fresh Nuclear Test

North Korea on Thursday threatened another nuclear test in protest against an impending UN resolution recommending referral of the reclusive state to the International Criminal Court for human rights abuses.

North Korea has unleashed a stream of threats after the UN human rights committee passed the draft resolution.

In a statement Thursday, a spokesman for the North Korean Foreign Ministry said the North rejects the "forceful passing" of the draft resolution by the UN committee, adding this makes the North "unable to refrain any longer from conducting a new nuclear test."

"Our war deterrent will be strengthened infinitely in the face of the United States' plot for armed interference and invasion," the spokesman added.

Analysis of satellite pictures suggests that the North has already put a nuclear reactor in Yongbyon back into operation to produce the requisite plutonium.

On Nov. 4, "steam was seen rising from a large cooling tower at auxiliary buildings just southeast of the plutonium separation building," the Johns Hopkins University blog 38 North said Wednesday. "Throughout the summer and into fall 2014 there was little activity at this facility."

"Steam coming from a nearby large cooling tower is consistent with maintenance and testing (as well as possibly the making of chemicals related to reprocessing) and would be one of the first steps taken before commencing operations," the report adds.

Defense Minister Han Min-koo told the National Assembly Defense Committee here, "We believe that the North is always preparing to conduct a new nuclear test. But we don't know whether it's possible in the near future."

The North is evidently upset that the resolution calls for the referral of senior North Korean officials to the ICC, a government official here said. "Nobody can rule out the possibility of the North launching provocations of any type."

Foreign Ministry spokesman Noh Kwang-il warned, "If the North aggravates the situation with nuclear threats, it will be violating a UN Security Council resolution. We must warn North Korea that it will face a firm response from the international community."

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