We have no nukes: N Korea

[somapala]

North Korea said today it has no nuclear weapons but warned it would develop a more powerful deterrent if its demands were not met, Russia's Itar-Tass news agency said.

It quoted a Russian source present at Beijing talks on the nuclear standoff.

Pyongyang "has no nuclear weapons... and has no goals of developing them," the Russian source quoted chief North Korean negotiator Kim Yong-Il as saying at the start of the talks.

Only minutes after the Itar-Tass report, a top South Korean official denied that North Korea claimed it had no nuclear weapons.

www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/08/27/1061663854319.html

[gp]

1. BS - This story is contradicting itself...

North Korea said today...but then they source it to someone who was present and who heard something at the nuclear talks in china last month.

...A more powerfull deterrent...thats a hydrogen bomb right?
Is that even technically feasible without having any substantive experience in nuclear weaponry?

The fact that they've used such a headline without ever really forcefully backing it up in the article, one south-korean official even denying it, makes very poor journalism imho. disinfo at best.

[DeathvadeR]

2. I smell a fuqin troll !!!!!!! n/t

[teryang]

3. Interesting report

Kind of like reading tea leaves:

<Only minutes after the Itar-Tass report, a top South Korean official denied that North Korea claimed it had no nuclear weapons.

"I do not think I heard that," said Wi Sung-Lac, director-general of North American affairs at the South Korean foreign ministry.

The United States believes North Korea has already developed two nuclear weapons, and may develop up to six more warheads within months.>

Why is the urgent response from S.Korea coming from the director of North American affairs?

The US doesn't believe N.Korea has already developed two nuclear weapons. The analysis is significantly different from that stated. What is believed is that N.Korea has had the possible opportunity to develope two such weapons from nuclear materials produced prior to 1994. Whether such weapons actually exist or not is guess work.

Of course those with an agenda promote the notion of certainty that the weapons exist, much like that did before the Iraq war. They really don't know. Statements attributed to N.Korean officials indicating that they have such weapons are highly suspect and are hearsay allegations promoted by dubious sources such as John Boulton, a neo con. There has been no independent corraboration of his allegations.