US and South Korean officials say North Korea has further secret nuclear sites in addition to a uranium enrichment plant Pyongyang disclosed last month. The comments could have significant consequences in the stand-off over North Korea’s atomic weapons programme.
“I think one has to assume that there are today additional undeclared enrichment-related facilities in North Korea,” a senior US administration official told the Financial Times. “Clearly they didn’t begin their enrichment programme in the summer of 2009 [as North Korea claims].
“They weren’t able to have this facility in 15 months from a standing start without extensive work beforehand.”