UN chief blasts Korea nuclear threat
ROGUE state North Korea was warned by the head of the UN yesterday to stop using nuclear threats as a “game” after announcing it would restart a plant to make plutonium and highly-enriched uranium for its nuclear weapons programme.
The crisis has gone too far. Things must calm down. There is no need for North Korea to be on a collision course with the international community. Nuclear threats are not a game
Ban Ki-moon, a South Korean, called for urgent talks with the North after it said it would reactivate weapons-making at its Yongbyon complex.
He said: “The crisis has gone too far. Things must calm down. There is no need for North Korea to be on a collision course with the international community. Nuclear threats are not a game.”
North Korea said the reactivation would be “immediate” after leader Kim Jong-un said it would make its nuclear weapons programme a key priority this year. A leading atomic scientist estimated it would take six months to restart weapons-grade plutonium operations disabled in 2007 in exchange for aid.
The plant’s uranium enrichment operation was shut last year in exchange for further aid.
However there were signs yesterday that North Korea is pulling back from military conflict with reports its forces were relaxing after weeks of high alert.