North Korea defies UN, threatens more nuclear weapons (Roundup)

Asia-Pacific News

Jun 13, 2009, 11:20 GMT

Seoul - North Korea said Saturday that it would build more nuclear weapons in defiance of a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning its most recent nuclear test. North Korean soldiers are seen at the Military Demarcation Line in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in the border village Panmunjom, in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. on 09 June 2009. EPA/LEE KI-TAE

North Korean soldiers are seen at the Military Demarcation Line in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in the border village Panmunjom, in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. on 09 June 2009. EPA/LEE KI-TAEThe isolated dictatorship lashed out at the UN resolution and said that the UN Security Council is bowing to the will of the United States, which Pyongyang says is out to get North Korea. 'This is yet another vile product of the US-led offensive of international pressure aimed at undermining the DPRK's ideology and its system chosen by its people by disarming the DPRK and suffocating its economy,' read an official statement. North Korea also said it would respond militarily to any attempt by the US and other countries to isolate it or impose a 'blockade,' according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry reported by the official Korean Central News Agency. It also said that the enrichment of uranium for weapons was progressing. The foreign ministry noted via state-run media that the country would never give up its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Indeed, the government announced plans to turn newly created plutonium stores into nuclear weapons. Additionally, it announced a plan to accelerate uranium enrichment projects with construction of a series of light water reactors. The United States has long suspected North Korea of secretly enriching uranium for years. In highly enriched form, uranium can be used for the construction of nuclear weapons. Some estimates state that North Korea could process a third of its spent fuel rods into weapons-grade plutonium. International inspections of North Korea's nuclear facilities have been impossible since the country threw out international inspectors in April. South Korea's Foreign Ministry welcomed Friday's Security Council resolution on the most recent North Korean nuclear test. The ministry said the resolution reflected the 'common and decisive will' of the Security Council to eliminate North Korea's nuclear activities and halt the spread of weapons of mass destruction. The government called on North Korea to accept this 'clear and unambiguous' message from the international community. South Korean President Lee Myung Back is expected to discuss the situation in North Korea when he meets with US President Barack Obama in Washington on June 16. The UN Security Council resolution was a reaction to North Korea's second atomic test, which took place on May 25. Resolution 1874 will expand the sanctions that were imposed in 2006 after North Korea's first nuclear test.