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A Japanese daily reports that Washington has launched its own probe into a one-time nuclear experiment conducted by South Korean scientists in early 2000. Seoul's acknowledgement this week of the nuclear experiment startled the international community with some foreign media reports suggesting the uranium obtained was almost pure enough for an atomic bomb.
Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun reported in its Saturday edition, Washington has begun its own investigation into a South Korean nuclear experiment four years ago. The daily cited a U.S. government official who said, the probe is aimed at finding out whether the Korean scientists were trained in the U.S., and whether or not the skills and technology used in the experiment were leaked from the U.S.
Tokyo said on Friday, it does not suspect Seoul attempted to develop nuclear weapons, but the clandestine uranium experiment suggests international monitoring controls were lax. "It is, of course, not an issue which should lead immediately to the development of nuclear weapons. But the IAEA is to control and monitor the work even at laboratory level. I don't think this is a matter of nuclear proliferation. I think this is to be regarded as one step prior to nuclear weapons development."
The International Atomic Energy Agency wrapped up its week-long probe Saturday, into the one-off experiment at the state-funded Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. IAEA inspectors will report their findings to their 35-member Board of Governors on September 13th.
In Seoul, a government official said, a uranium experiment first came to the attention of the Science and Technology Ministry on June 20th, while the Ministry was receiving data from its related institutions prior to drawing up a report to the IAEA. But the official said, the Ministry did not report it to President Roh Moo-hyun. The experiment was reported to the Science Minister in August after it was confirmed in July.
The South Korean government has rebuffed foreign media reports that suspect Seoul was behind a secret uranium enrichment experiment that neared bomb grade. Seoul has insisted 0.2 grams of uranium, a quantity that's apparently too small to produce weapons-grade materials, was separated just one time for research purposes on a "laboratory-scale" using laser technology. The government has also made it clear it did not violate the Safeguard Agreement, pointing to its voluntary declaration of the experiment.
Arirang TV
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