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The U.S. told the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its allies that North Korea has been preparing for an underground nuclear test since March and could conduct a test as early as June, Japan¡¯s Kyodo News reported Sunday. Quoting diplomatic officials in Vienna, the site of IAEA headquarters, AP on Saturday also said the U.S. was ¡°warning¡± its allies that a nuclear test could be in the offing.
¡°The intelligence was obtained through satellite photos and South Korean and American intelligence operatives within North Korea,¡± Kyodo said quoting sources. ¡°North Korea is preparing to test a small-scale plutonium device, and ¡¦ the equipment needed for the test [is] already in place.¡± The agency said IAEA officials ¡°estimate that the warhead North Korea is preparing to test is a 20 kiloton plutonium device like the one dropped on Nagasaki, Japan in 1945... IAEA officials believe that if North Korea attempts a nuclear test, it would very likely be successful.¡±
Kyodo said developing a detonator for a plutonium test was difficult, but North Korea conducted over 100 detonator tests using high explosives since the 1980s. A diplomatic source close to the IAEA said, ¡°When you consider technical advancement since then, North Korea has without a doubt resolved the detonation equipment problem.¡±
Meanwhile, a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman responded in like currency on Saturday to U.S. President George W. Bush¡¯s attack on North Korean leader Kim Jong-il as a ¡°tyrant¡± and ¡°dangerous person.¡± North Korea in turn called Bush a ¡°hooligan¡±, ¡°philistine¡± and ¡°the world's dictator.¡±
(Heo Yong-beom, heo@chosun.com )
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