U.N. urged to tighten grip on North Korea atomic program

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110131/wl_nm/us_korea_north_un

U.N. urged to tighten grip on North Korea atomic program

By Louis Charbonneau Louis Charbonneau – 4 mins ago

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – A U.N. panel reported to the Security Council that

North Korea may have further secret atomic facilities and called for better

implementation of sanctions against Pyongyang, U.N. diplomats said on Monday.

The diplomats told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the assessment and

recommendations were included in a confidential report prepared by the so-called

U.N. Panel of Experts, a group that monitors compliance with two rounds of U.N.

sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear arms program.

The report to the U.N. North Korea sanctions committee was based on

conversations with a U.S. nuclear scientist, Siegfried Hecker, who saw hundreds

of centrifuges used to enrich uranium during a rare visit to North Korea last

year, as well as the panel's own investigations and analysis, the diplomats

said.

" What the report says is that it's not operational, " one of the envoys said

about North Korea's uranium enrichment program. " They (the panel) are also

mentioning other secret facilities. "

Envoys said the panel endorsed Hecker's view that there had to be additional

secret sites in North Korea, in addition to the facility where Hecker said he

saw " hundreds and hundreds " of centrifuges in November. Hecker visited a former

fuel fabrication plant that was virtually empty several years ago.

" There's no way they could have outfitted the centrifuge facility between 2009

and now without there being additional secret sites, " a diplomat said.

The panel's report says North Korea's uranium enrichment work -- which is in

addition to its plutonium-based nuclear arms program that is a subject of

international concern -- started back in the 1990s, the diplomats said.

EXCHANGE OF KNOW-HOW WITH IRAN?

Much of what is known publicly about North Korean nuclear activities is based on

information about the Yongbyon nuclear complex. But the United States and its

allies have long suspected that North Korea has other sites around the country.

A South Korean intelligence official said last month that North Korea has been

secretly enriching uranium that could be used to build nuclear weapons at three

or four undisclosed locations.

Uranium enrichment could give North Korea a second pathway to fissile material

for bombs in addition to its plutonium-based program, which had been frozen

under an earlier disarmament-for-aid deal.

North Korea expelled U.N. inspectors from Yongbyon in late 2002 and withdrew

from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, a global pact banning the spread of

atomic weapons, several months later.

The panel also warned the Security Council's sanctions committee that North

Korea continues exchanges of expertise in the nuclear field. Although it does

not name any countries, diplomats said the panel clearly had Iran in mind.

Iran denies pursuing atomic weapons, but Western diplomats and intelligence

officials say that North Korea and Iran have been cooperating on missile-related

issues and possibly in the nuclear field as well.

The panel urged the council to increase the number of individuals and companies

on a U.N. blacklist for supplying North Korea's nuclear and missile companies.

The individuals it suggested blacklisting are connected to Pyongyang's " military

industrial complex " or procurement, the envoys said.

The report makes other recommendations aimed at improving compliance with the

U.N. sanctions imposed on North Korea after its two nuclear tests in 2006 and

2009.

It says that " neighbors should apply more vigorous export controls, " a diplomat

said, adding that it was obviously referring to China.

The panel also calls for greater information sharing among member states and

more guidance from the North Korea sanctions committee on how to comply with the

U.N. measures.

Envoys said the report urges exporters of sensitive technology to " consult with

export control authorities when red flags are raised " -- such as large or

one-off orders for technology that could be used in a nuclear program.

(Editing by Osterman)