WORLD NEWS TONIGHT WITH PETER JENNINGS (06:30 PM ET) - ABC February 12, 2003
NORTH KOREA BOMB CAPABILITY
In-Depth Coverage
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PETER JENNINGS, ABC NEWS
(Voice Over) Now, let's go to Korea. For all the emphasis on Iraq, events in North Korea keep forcing the Bush Administration to pay more attention. On Capitol Hill today, the director of the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency, testified that North Korea may have a long-range missile that may be capable of reaching the US mainland. ABC's John McWethy reports from the Pentagon tonight that, well, watching North Korea is one thing. Understanding its intentions is another. graphics: missile threat
JOHN MCWETHY, ABC NEWS
(Voice Over) This is a commercial satellite photograph, taken at the end of January. It shows, for the first time, what has alarmed the world about North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear bomb making facilities. The plumes of steam from this plant show it is generating power for production of highly enriched plutonium, a key ingredient for making bombs. After years of being cold, the plant is again hot. But in a later satellite pass in early February, the same plant appears to be shut down again. No plumes of steam.
JOHN PIKE, DIRECTOR, GLOBALSECURITY.ORG
The bad news is that it looks like the North Koreans are preparing to reprocess fuel to make atomic bombs. The good news is that it looks like that reprocessing plant was started briefly and then turned back off.
JOHN MCWETHY
(Voice Over) For whatever reason, mechanical or political, North Korea does not appear, for the moment, to be plunging ahead. And today, at a Senate hearing, there were concerns raised about North Korea's long- range missiles that would carry any nuclear weapon.
SENATOR EVAN BAYH, DEMOCRAT, INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE
What is the likelihood that they currently have a missile capable of hitting the west coast of the United States?
GEORGE TENET, CIA DIRECTOR
I think the declassified answer is, yes, they could do that.
JOHN MCWETHY
(Voice Over) In fact, the CIA says in its public documents that one type of North Korean missile, not yet flight-tested, could reach not just the west coast, but all of the United States.
JOHN MCWETHY (CONTINUED)
(Off Camera) The International Atomic Energy Agency today declared that North Korea had violated its nuclear agreements and voted to hand the case over to the UN Security Council for action. The Bush Administration insisted that the case be handled peacefully, despite North Korea's blatant potential in both its nuclear and missile programs. John McWethy, ABC News, the Pentagon.
Copyright © 2003, American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
