North Korea in new nuclear weapon claim
North Korea increases pressure on US to start talks by claiming to have reprocessed 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods
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North Korea has increased pressure on the US to begin bilateral talks by claiming to have completed the reprocessing of 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods.
The claim, made by state-run media, suggests that Pyongyang has weaponised the resulting plutonium at its Yongbyon nuclear facility.
''Noticeable successes have been made in turning the extracted plutonium weapon-grade for the purpose of bolstering up the nuclear deterrent," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a translation provided by Japan's Kyodo news agency.
Earlier, the north said it was resuming the processing of spent fuel rods from the nuclear complex 90km north of its capital in protest at United Nations resolutions over its long-range rocket launches.
South Korea, which wants the north to return to six-party talks on its nuclear programme, said ministers "deeply regret North Korea's repeated activities to defy the international community's concerted demand".
Pyongyang first pulled out of nuclear talks in April, a month before conducting a massive underground nuclear test that drew universal international condemnation.
In recent weeks the reclusive communist state has pledged to "go our own way" unless Washington's opens bilateral talks over food and energy aid.
The increasingly belligerent behaviour of North Korea on the world stage in 2009, which as well as the nuclear test saw several long-range missiles test-fired, was seen by analysts as an attempt by supreme leader Kim Jong-il, reportedly beset by health problems, to secure his succession.
His youngest son Kim Jong-un, 25, is his father's choice to assume control of the chairmanship of the country's national defence commission, its top military and political body.
It is thought Kim Jong-il wanted to create a rocky diplomatic climate that he could credit his son with playing a part in resolving.