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N.Korea says Japan about to have nuclear arms
Seoul, May 09: North Korea today accused Japan of being on the verge of possessing nuclear weapons.
Seoul, May 09: North Korea today accused Japan of being on
the verge of possessing nuclear weapons.
The charge, carried in a report by North Korea's state news
Agency KCNA, was the latest in Pyongyang's running assault against
one of the five countries preparing to meet next week to discuss how
to break up the north's suspected nuclear arms programme.
''Japan's nuclear weaponisation has been pushed ahead at the phase of practical implementation, going beyond the stage of discussion,'' the report by KCNA monitored in Seoul said. ''As a result, there are ample conditions for the descendents of Samurais buoyed by fever for re-invasion to have access to nuclear weapons any moment,'' it said.
Japan is a non-nuclear-weapon state party to the nuclear Non-proliferation treaty but is an active producer of nuclear power energy. The charge came as North Korea and Japan last week reopened bilateral discussions on resolving the abduction of Japanese civilians by the North three decades ago.
Japan wants family members of five abducted Japanese who have returned from the north allowed passage to Japan.
North Koreans will also be meeting with negotiators from Seoul, Washington, Beijing, Moscow as well as Tokyo in China's capital next week to try to move forward the slow dialogue on Pyongyang's nuclear programmes.
Bureau Report
''Japan's nuclear weaponisation has been pushed ahead at the phase of practical implementation, going beyond the stage of discussion,'' the report by KCNA monitored in Seoul said. ''As a result, there are ample conditions for the descendents of Samurais buoyed by fever for re-invasion to have access to nuclear weapons any moment,'' it said.
Japan is a non-nuclear-weapon state party to the nuclear Non-proliferation treaty but is an active producer of nuclear power energy. The charge came as North Korea and Japan last week reopened bilateral discussions on resolving the abduction of Japanese civilians by the North three decades ago.
Japan wants family members of five abducted Japanese who have returned from the north allowed passage to Japan.
North Koreans will also be meeting with negotiators from Seoul, Washington, Beijing, Moscow as well as Tokyo in China's capital next week to try to move forward the slow dialogue on Pyongyang's nuclear programmes.
Bureau Report