UN사찰단 한국의 농축우라늄발견 WSJ

UN사찰단 한국의 농축우라늄발견 WSJ UN사찰단 한국의 농축우라늄발견 The Wall Street Journal 2004. 11. 12 UN의 핵전문가들이 말하기를 한국의 과학자들이 핵폭탄에 사용될 수 있는 수준에 가까운 우라늄 소량의 농축에 성공.......비밀보고에서 수년간 서울이 민감한 실험에 대한 정보를 국제사찰단에게 은폐했다고 결론. IAEA보고는 한국과학자가 관여한 우라늄과 플루토늄의 양은 "심각한 것이 아니라고 말한다. 그러나 핵무기를 위한 방사능물질을 만드는 데 사용될 수 있는 기술이 포함되어 있는 실험의 성격, 그리고 보고 누락은 '중대한 우려사항"이라고... (중략) 평양이 다자간협상에 복귀하지 않는 구실로 삼고 있다. 존 볼턴이 말하기를 "중대한 문제".... 2002년과 2003년에, 서울은 IAEA의 농축우라늄실험이 행하여진 실험실 방문 요청을 거절했다고, 보고서는 말했다. 2004년 사찰단의 방문이 허용되었을 때도 환경 샘플의 채취를 막았다.(하략) [원문] United Nations Inspectors Find South Korea Enriched Uranium The Wall Street Journal 2004. 11. 12 GORDON FAIRCLOUGH SEOUL, South Korea -- United Nations nuclear experts say South Korean scientists succeeded in enriching a tiny quantity of uranium to a level close to that which could be used in an atomic bomb, and they conclude in a confidential report that Seoul for years concealed information about sensitive experiments from international inspectors. The International Atomic Energy Agency report says the quantities of uranium and plutonium involved in tests by South Korean researchers "have not been significant." But it says the nature of the experiments, which involved techniques that can be used to make fissile material for nuclear weapons, and Seoul's failure to report them, were "matters of serious concern." The IAEA didn't find any evidence that the most controversial work, conducted in 1982 and 2000, is continuing, or that it was part of an effort to produce atomic arms. The agency also said South Korea has recently provided "active cooperation" to agency inspectors, who have visited the country three times in recent months. South Korea disclosed the experiments to the IAEA this summer as part of a more stringent oversight agreement it signed with the agency. Seoul has said it was unaware of the work, which was carried out by scientists at a government-funded research institute, until recently. And it denies that it harbors any ambitions to obtain nuclear weapons. But the South Korean admissions stirred suspicion among its neighbors, given the country's covert efforts in the 1970s to develop atomic weapons, which were halted under pressure from the U.S. North Korea, which boasts that it is developing its own "nuclear deterrent," also has criticized Seoul and blasted Washington for applying a "double standard" to the North's atomic aspirations. Pyongyang also has pointed to the South Korean experiments as a reason not to return to multilateral negotiations aimed at dismantling its nuclear programs. "This is serious stuff," said Jon Wolfsthal, a nonproliferation expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. "This looks consistent with a slow and steady process by at least some in the technical community to plow the earth for a potential nuclear-weapons program." The IAEA report paints a picture of South Korean disclosures in the face of prolonged pushing and prodding from the agency. In 2002 and 2003, for example, Seoul denied requests from IAEA inspectors to visit the laboratories where the uranium-enrichment experiments were carried out, the report says. When inspectors eventually were allowed into the labs in March 2004, they were barred from taking environmental samples. The report says that in four instances, South Korea failed to report actions to the IAEA as required under its safeguards agreement. The IAEA's board of governors is expected to consider South Korea's case at its next board meeting in late November. The board must decide whether to refer the matter to the U.N. Security Council.