Kim Sung Hwan, who heads South Korea\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has warned of the possibility that North Korea is planning to detonate a nuclear device utilizing highly enriched uranium, rather than the plutonium devices of the past.<\/p>\n
Kim, who was testifying before the Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee of the National Assembly today, asserted, \u201cIn 2010 the [uranium enrichment] facility [at Yongbyon] was made public, and if we speculate based on that then it appears they have extracted a certain amount of weapons-grade enriched uranium.\u201d <\/p>\n
Equally, he added, \u201cBecause the Yongbyon nuclear reactor has been closed down, plutonium extraction is no longer possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kim also attempted to extrapolate from past precedent when the North Korean nuclear test might take place. \u201cAny time is possible,” he admitted, adding that “it is hard for us to predict.\u201d However, he went on, \u201ctheir past nuclear tests happened on U.S. holidays; Columbus Day (October 9th) and Memorial Day (May 25th).\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom this fact, we can guess that February 12th, the day the U.S. President gives his new year\u2019s State of the Union address, or February 18th, U.S. Presidents\u2019 Day, could be the day the nuclear test is conducted. In addition, Kim Jong Il\u2019s birthday, February 16th, is also possible.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kim Sung Hwan, who heads South Korea\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has warned of the possibility that North Korea is planning to detonate a nuclear device utilizing highly enriched uranium, rather than the plutonium devices of the past. Kim, who was testifying before the Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee of the National […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":22611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n