WASHINGTON — The White House said Thursday that North Korea’s secret work on a nuclear reactor with Syria was “a dangerous and potentially destabilizing development for the world,” raising doubts about Pyong yang’s intention to carry through with a promised disclosure of its nuclear activities.
Seven months after Israel bombed the reactor, the White House broke its silence and said that North Korea assisted Syria’s secret nuclear program and that the destroyed facility was not intended for “peaceful purposes.”
Top U.S. intelligence officials who briefed reporters said they had high confidence in the judgment that North Korea had aided Syria with its nuclear program and the intention was to produce plutonium. But they claimed only low confidence for the conclusion that it was meant for weapons development, in part because there was no reprocessing facility at the site — something needed to enrich nuclear material for use in a bomb.
The Bush administration’s assertions could undermine six-party negotiations to try to resolve the nuclear standoff with North Korea. But a senior administration official told reporters he hoped the disclosure would instead provide leverage to officials trying to get an accurate accounting of North Korea’s nuclear and proliferation activities.
The White House issued a two-page statement after lawmakers were given details about the reactor and intelligence information the administration contends establishes a strong link between North Korea’s nuclear program and the bombed Syrian site.
While calling North Korea’s nuclear assistance to Syria a “dangerous manifestation” of Pyongyang’s nuclear-weapons program and its proliferation activities, the White House said it remained committed to the talks.
Aware of project in ’03
The United States became aware North Korea was helping Syria with a nuclear project in 2003, said intelligence officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity. The critical intelligence that cemented that conclusion, they said, came last year: dozens of photographs taken from ground level over a period of time, showing the construction both inside and outside the building.
The Israeli strike on Sept. 6, 2007, ripped open the structure, known as the Al Kibar reactor, and revealed even more evidence to spy satellites: reinforced concrete walls that echoed the design of the Yong byon reactor.
After the attack, Syria tried to bury evidence of its existence and erected a new building to hide the site. The building is not believed to house a new reactor, the officials said.
The Syrian reactor was within weeks or months of being functional when Israeli jets destroyed it, a top U.S. official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. The official said the facility was mostly completed but still needed fueling and significant testing before it could be declared operational.
No uranium, which is needed to fuel a reactor, was evident at the site, a remote area of eastern Syria along the Euphrates River.
But senior U.S. intelligence officials said the reactor was similar in design to the North Korean reactor at Yongbyon, which has in the past produced small amounts of plutonium, the material needed to make powerful nuclear weapons.
Syria rejects allegations
A senior intelligence official said the intelligence agencies believe North Korea was motivated by “cash” rather than a desire to obtain plutonium from the reactor.
Syria has maintained in the past that the site was an unused military facility, and on Thursday, its embassy denounced what it called the U.S. “campaign of false allegations.”
While Washington was awash in condemnation of North Korea’s proliferation activities, the communist regime is expressing optimism about current six-party negotiations with the United States, China, South Korea, Russia and Japan. The optimism over the talks is raising hopes of breaking the impasse that has deadlocked arms negotiations.
