North Korea’s uranium enrichment program has emerged as a troubling development for regional diplomacy, as leaders of the U.S. and China expressed concern about the controversial program and shared the view on the goal of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula during their bilateral summit last month. The two leaders agreed that the international community must continue to state clearly that the uranium enrichment program is in violation of North Korea’s commitments and international obligations. The seriousness of North Korea’s uranium enrichment program is revealed in a report by Siegfried Hecker, co-director of the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University, who visited North Korea last November. Hecker said he had witnessed hundreds of hundreds of centrifuges installed in the Yongbyon nuclear facility in North Korea, adding that he was surprised to see the sophisticated, ultra-modern facility for uranium enrichment. He also said he had heard from North Korean officials that as many as 2,000 centrifuges were being operated there. Experts note that the enriched uranium, along with plutonium, could be used as materials for producing nuclear weapons. Here’s Dr. Jeon Seong-hun from the Korea Institute for National Unification to explain.

There are two methods to produce a nuclear weapon. The first method is to use plutonium. North Korea is assumed to have extracted 30 to 50 kg of plutonium in its Yongbyon nuclear complex with a 5-megawatt nuclear reactor and the reprocessing facility. The second method is to extract highly enriched uranium. In general, centrifuges are used for this method. A cylinder containing uranium in gasified form is rotated, using the centrifugal force to separate the enriched uranium. What Dr. Hecker saw in Yongbyon last November was a facility equipped with 2,000 centrifuges, which hadn’t been disclosed to the outside world before. If it was fully operated for a year, the 2,000 centrifuges could generate highly enriched uranium that could produce one or two nuclear bombs.

A uranium bomb is easy to produce and relatively light, so it is considered more intimidating than a plutonium one. Experts speculate that North Korea chose to develop a uranium bomb because it is easy to load the smaller and lighter bomb onto a missile and it is less detectable by a spy satellite. Some experts doubt North Korea’s claim to have developed the high level of technology on its own, since the core of a centrifuge is a solid alloy capable of withstanding high rotation rates. But Dr. Jeon has a different opinion.

Many people tend to underestimate North Korea’s technology for nuclear weapons development, citing its poor economy. Despite its tattered economy, however, North Korea’s missile and nuclear technologies have developed significantly because the nation is willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of regime maintenance. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who recently visited China and South Korea, said that North Korea’s missiles and nuclear weapons would pose a threat to the U.S. As Gates said, North Korea could develop intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads within five to ten years.

The history of North Korea’s enriched uranium program dates back to eight years ago. In October 2002, when James Kelly, then-assistant secretary of state for East Asia Affairs, visited Pyongyang, North Korea admitted its possession of enriched uranium but denied it later. That was the beginning of the so-called “second North Korean nuclear crisis.” In 2003, North Korea attempted to import super-strong aluminum tubes, indispensable for uranium enrichment, from overseas, but they were seized later. In September 2009, Pyongyang made a surprise announcement that it had succeeded in a uranium enrichment experiment. Fourteen months later, in November 2010, the North opened up its uranium enrichment facility equipped with centrifuges to Dr. Hecker, the visiting American nuclear expert. Why did North Korea reveal its nuclear card, namely, the highly enriched uranium program?

There are several purposes. The biggest aim is, no doubt, to draw attention from the U.S. By showing a new negotiation card, Pyongyang is pressuring the U.S. to respond to the negotiations it wants to hold. What North Korea wants the most is to conclude a peace treaty with the U.S. In January last year, North Korea said denuclearization was important but hostility between the U.S. and North Korea should be dissolved first, citing a peace treaty for that purpose. That is, North Korea insists on a peace treaty first and denuclearization later. The North is desperate for a peace treaty because it is a shortcut to the withdrawal of U.S. troops in South Korea. Within the nation, North Korea disclosed its highly enriched uranium program in order to demonstrate a new development in science and technology as another achievement of heir-apparent Kim Jong-un.

Attention now turns to the next steps North Korea takes. Pyongyang argues that its uranium enrichment program is no problem at all because it represents the peaceful use of nuclear energy. However, some experts predict North Korea may resort to an even stronger nuclear gambit, if the current negotiation card fails to make progress toward dialogue with involved countries or if the nation needs to facilitate the ongoing power succession process. Dr. Jeon says it’s necessary to employ both sanctions and dialogue to address the nuclear issue.

I think it’s necessary to use both sanctions and dialogue when dealing with North Korea. Existing sanctions must not be eased just because North Korea will return to the six-party nuclear talks. The ultimate goal is that North Korea will abandon its nuclear weapons development and fulfill its commitments to denuclearization. To this end, sanctions should continue. At the same time, involved countries should seek dialogue with North Korea. The six-party talks have revealed many problems over the last eight years. When the multilateral negotiations actually reconvene, the five participants, except North Korea, need to thoroughly analyze the process of the past negotiations. They should work together to accept positive results and work on the problems in earlier negotiations so they won’t repeat the same mistakes again.

Some point out that involved countries, including South Korea, have been too lukewarm about the nuclear issue. It’s time for the international community to mobilize all of their wisdom to prevent the uranium enrichment issue, a new factor in the nuclear dispute, from evolving into a more serious conflict.



[Interview] Policeman Serves as Caring Mentor for N. Korean Defectors Countless people are traveling to their hometowns for Lunar New Year’s Day. It is a time for homecoming and family reunions, but some people feel even lonelier during the traditional holiday. North Korean defectors who left their homes and family members in the North often have no one to celebrate with in the South. Police lieutenant Park Jong-geun of the Gangseo Police Station in Seoul paid a visit to some of the unfortunate defectors who feel more homesick than usual at this time of year. Upon arriving in South Korea, North Korean newcomers are supposed to complete a training program at Hanawon, a resettlement center for Northern defectors. After that, they are provided with police protection in their places of residence under a mentor-mentee program. Park is serving as a mentor for defector residents within the jurisdiction of the Gangseo Police Station.

On top of security for the defectors, we handle various inquiries and complaints of administrative and legal problems. Women comprise 70 percent of the defectors, and many of them developed diseases in North Korea or in China. So, there are many inquiries about medical support. In addition, many ask for information about private educational institutes for their children, government livelihood subsidy entitlement and a contract for moving into an apartment supported by the government.

Currently, Park is in charge of 50 to 60 people among 1,000 defector residents in that area. They include elderly people living all alone and mothers who defected to South Korea with only their kids. He talks with them over the phone or visits them every day, as if they were his own parents or children. The newcomers find his heartfelt care very comforting. There was a defector who needed a surgery but didn’t have enough money. Park threw himself into the matter with enthusiasm, warming the hearts of many people in the neighborhood. It was February last year when Park first met his mentee, surnamed Kim, who arrived in South Korea all by herself in October 2006. She endured severe, chronic back pain due to the aftereffects of torture in North Korea, and she was diagnosed with “spinal compression fractures” last year. The poor woman was living from hand to mouth, and she just couldn’t pay the cost of surgery which would amount to millions of won. Learning of Kim’s dreadful situation, Park went around a number of public institutions and thoroughly examined relevant laws and regulations, looking for ways to help her out.

She suffered from severe back pain from the time she left North Korea. She said it was almost impossible to lead a normal life. To find ways to help her, I went to the district office and the Gangseo branch office of the National Health Insurance Corporation. I discovered that there was a system allowing people in need of emergency support to receive aid. After I confirmed that the local government secured a budget, I helped Kim fill an application form out and we went to the relevant organization together. Fortunately, the support system applied to Kim’s case.

Park visited the Gangseo District Office as many as five times to consult a public official in charge and finally resolved the problem of the cost of Kim’s surgery. Park also testified on Kim’s poor financial situation. Thanks to the police lieutenant’s unsparing efforts, the defector underwent a successful surgery on December 3, 2010, and left the hospital later as a healthy woman. Park says his work does not deserve public attention because he just fulfilled his duty to provide police protection to North Korean defectors. Rather, he stresses that South Korean society should pay more attention to the newcomers from the North.

I’ve been working as a security policeman for North Korean defectors since February last year. There are many North Korean expatriates in my district, and I found that they cannot mingle with South Korean residents very well. And there are very few places they can go or people they can talk to about their problems. I think it’s urgent to create a social environment in which they can blend into local communities and their children can get along well with their South Korean counterparts in school.