IAEA: North Korean threat in nuke proliferation...

The UN nuclear watch dog agency has condemned North Korea for posing a threat through nuclear proliferation. The regular board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna discussed a report on North Korea's nuclear development on Wednesday. The report says Libya had procured uranium material through the so-called nuclear black market, and that the material is highly likely to have originated in North Korea. It says Libya possessed the material until the country declared that it was abandoning its nuclear ambition. The report also says a facility in Syria, which appeared to house a reactor, is supposed to have been constructed with the aid of North Korea. Israeli warplanes destroyed the Syrian facility in an air attack 4 years ago. At the board meeting, Japan, the US and others expressed concern over the possibility of nuclear technology spilling from North Korea into other countries. In a chair statement, the IAEA condemned North Korea for threatening the international nuclear non-proliferation scheme. The UN agency is expected to adopt a resolution at its annual ministerial meeting to begin on Monday urging North Korea to renounce its nuclear development program.
(Japan Broadcasting Corporation, September 15, 2001)