U.S. envoy calls N. Korea enrichment claim a "concern"

[Coventina]

Source: Reuters

BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States' special envoy for North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, said on Friday that the North's claim to be near completing experimental enrichment of uranium was "of concern."

Speaking to reporters in Beijing, Bosworth said he had only just heard of Pyongyang's claim on Friday that it was close to completing enrichment of uranium, a step that if mastered and expanded could give it a path to the fissile material for nuclear weapons without operating atomic reactors.

"Obviously, anything that the North is doing in the area of nuclear development is of concern to us," Bosworth said.

"I think for all of us, it reconfirms the necessity to maintain a coordinated position on the need for complete, verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," he added.

Bosworth said his talks with Chinese officials about the North Korean nuclear dispute went well, but he did not give any details. He will go on to Seoul for talks there and then Tokyo. He said he has no plans to meet officials from North Korea.



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