Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)


September 2004 South Korea Special Weapons News

  • IAEA suspects S. Korean tests stemmed from previous nuke programs IRNA 28 Sep 2004 -- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) suspects South Korea`s recently revealed nuclear experiments may have stemmed from a nuclear weapons development program that Seoul promoted and suspended under US pressure in the 1970s, diplomatic sources said Monday.
  • IAEA ends inspection of South Korean nuclear centers IRNA 26 Sep 2004 -- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has finalized inspection in South Korea. The inspection was held because of the recent nuclear experiment scandal, a governmental source said on Sunday.
  • RUSSIA / KOREA VOA 21 Sep 2004 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and his South Korean counterpart President Roh Moo Hyun have reiterated calls for curbing North Korea's nuclear weapons drive and continuing the six-nation talks aimed at defusing the Korean nuclear crisis.
  • SOKOR/NUCLEAR VOA 20 Sep 2004 -- U.N. inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency are continuing their work in South Korea - after the government in Seoul admitted to clandestine nuclear programs. Details of the follow-up inspection are not being disclosed until the delegation makes its final report.
  • SOKOR/NUCLEAR VOA 19 Sep 2004 -- A delegation from the United Nation's nuclear watchdog arrived in Seoul on Sunday for a follow-up inspection after South Korea admitted to clandestine nuclear programs.
  • IAEA/SOUTH KOREA VOA 17 Sep 2004 -- The International Atomic Energy Agency is planning to send inspectors to South Korea, which recently admitted having conducted nuclear experiments that it said were for scientific purposes only.
  • Transcript of the Director Generalīs Press Statement on IAEA Inspection in Iran, Libya & the Republic of Korea International Atomic Energy Agency 13 Sep 2004
  • Spokesman for DPRK FM. on Issue of Uranium Enrichment in South Korea KCNA 13 Sep 2004 -- -- A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Saturday gave the following answer to a question put by KCNA as regards the cases of nuclear-related secret experiments disclosed in south Korea in succession recently: It has been brought to light recently that south Korea made a uranium enrichment experiment by laser in secrecy in 2000 and conducted an experiment for extracting plutonium in 1982.
  • IAEA/KOREA VOA 13 Sep 2004 -- The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency says South Korea's undeclared nuclear experiments are a matter of serious concern, and a detailed investigation is underway.
  • South Korea: Debate Heats Up Over Seoul's Nuclear Admissions RFE/RL 09 Sep 2004 -- North Korea is accusing the United States of applying "double standards" in its role as one of the mediators in six-party nuclear nonproliferation talks on the Korean peninsula. The criticism by Pyongyang's envoy to the United Nations yesterday was the country's first official reaction to South Korea's recent admission that it had experimented with small amounts of uranium and plutonium. Plutonium and enriched uranium are two key ingredients of nuclear weapons. Conducting such tests without immediately informing the UN's nuclear watchdog -- the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) -- is a violation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Both North and South Korea signed that treaty, but Pyongyang withdrew in January 2003.
  • SOKOR NUCLEAR VOA 09 Sep 2004 -- A week after admitting government scientists enriched uranium in a clandestine experiment four years ago, South Korea has revealed it also engaged in plutonium research more than 20 years ago.
  • Fewer Troops Won't Reduce Deterrence in South Korea, Rumsfeld Says AFPS 08 Sep 2004 -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is "not one slight bit" worried that fewer U.S. troops in South Korea will mean a reduced deterrent capability on the peninsula.
  • SOKOR/NUCLEAR VOA 08 Sep 2004 -- South Korea says it made a mistake by not reporting a uranium experiment to the United Nations agency that oversees nuclear activities. The statement comes nearly a week after Seoul acknowledged that its scientists had produced a small amount of enriched uranium four years ago.
  • IAEA too decide in Nov if S. Korea violated nuke safeguard accord IRNA 07 Sep 2004 -- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is highly likely to decide at a meeting in November whether South Korea violated a safeguard agreement by not notifying it of a uranium enrichment experiment in 2000, an agency official said Monday.
  • UN agency sends team to probe uranium enrichment in S. Korea IRNA 05 Sep 2004 -- The United Nations atomic watchdog agency has sent an inspection team to South Korea to investigate the production of a tiny amount of enriched uranium that the government in Seoul claims claims was carried out without its knowledge.
  • UN agency sends team to probe uranium enrichment in Republic of Korea UN News Centre 03 Sep 2004 -- The United Nations atomic watchdog agency has sent an inspection team to the Republic of Korea (ROK) to investigate the production of a tiny amount of enriched uranium that the Government in Seoul claims was carried out without its knowledge.
  • U.S. Realigning, Redeploying Military Forces in South Korea Washington File 03 Sep 2004 -- U.S. plans to realign and redeploy its military forces in South Korea will increase its capabilities, says Richard Lawless, deputy under secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific affairs.
  • SOKOR/NUCLEAR VOA 03 Sep 2004 -- The South Korean government says its scientists were not trying to build a nuclear bomb when they enriched a small amount of uranium four years ago. But news of the experiment is prompting nervous reaction from Japan. And there are concerns it could complicate efforts to get North Korea to abandon its nuclear program.
  • IAEA/SOUTH KOREA VOA 02 Sep 2004 -- The International Atomic Energy Agency has a team of inspectors in South Korea investigating an apparent breach of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The case will be reviewed at the upcoming IAEA board of governors meeting.