N. Korea Won't Acknowledge Uranium Program

[Khephra]

WASHINGTON -- U.S. officials said Wednesday the chief problem in talks with North Korea is the communist country's refusal to acknowledge the existence of a secret nuclear weapons program based on uranium.

James Kelly, the State Department's top official on Asia, told a Senate panel this week that the North Koreans "wouldn't give us any satisfaction" about the long-standing U.S. claim that the country is trying to develop a uranium-based bomb. North Korea has acknowledged that it has a plutonium-based weapons program.

Kelly noted that although North Korea continued to deny the existence of any such program, it was less vocal in asserting that position during the recently ended six-party talks in Beijing.

The North Koreans did agree for the first time to allow the U.S. claims about uranium bomb development to be a legitimate part of the agenda for future discussions, Kelly said.

"It was clear by the conclusion of the talks that this is very much now on the table," Kelly said.

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