North Korea kicked out U.N. weapons inspectors from a plant that previously produced weapons-grade plutonium and notified the nuclear watchdog that it would restart operations as early as next week, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Wednesday.
The moves mean that the North could be reprocessing plutonium in a matter of months.
This latest provocation by North Korea kills what little hope remained that the Bush administration could complete a denuclearization deal in the president's remaining months in office. Although the regime has been warning for weeks that it would restart nuclear activities, the speed and extent of its moves have been discouraging.
President Bush announced in June that he would recommend the lifting of the terrorism-sponsor designation for North Korea's submission of an inventory of its nuclear program. But the administration has not been satisfied with the document.
Los Angeles Times
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