Satellites Said to See Activity at North Korean Nuclear Site

It seems the fear of many analysts about North Korea is coming true. On January 28 a YaleGlobal article raised the possibility that North Korea may be rushing to reprocess its 8,000 rods of spent fuel into weapons-grade plutonium and that it could even be done without being observed by spy satellite. Today this new article in the New York Times quotes US intelligence sources as saying that "the movement of the rods, combined with other activity that now appears to be under way at the Yongbyon complex, could allow North Korea to begin producing bomb-grade plutonium by the end of March." The article says that North Korea did not make any real effort to hide their actions from prying eyes. Some even speculated that the North Koreans "could simply be conducting the nuclear activity as part of an elaborate bluff, hoping it will bring the Bush administration to the negotiating table." Future events will give the answer, but it may be too late for the US if this latest activity turns out to be more than a bluff. – YaleGlobal