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North Korea admits having secret nuclear weapons programme

T V Parasuram in Washington

In a startling disclosure, North Korea has said it has a secret nuclear weapons programme, a revelation that has stunned the United States and South Korea who have asked Pyongyang to reverse course and abide by promises to renounce development of these armaments.

North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Kang Sok Joo made the disclosure when a US delegation headed by Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly presented the North Koreans detailed evidence of a covert nuclear programme during a visit to Pyongyang earlier this month, US officials said.

Kang also said that his government has developed 'other, more powerful weapons'. But he offered no apologies, a US official said.

The North Korean admission adds to the Bush administration's list of foreign policy worries, coming on top of a possible US attack on Iraq and the overall US war on terrorism.

US officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said North Korea told US diplomats that it was no longer bound by the anti-nuclear agreement.

The secret nuclear weapons programme would be a violation of a 1994 agreement between North Korea and the US, negotiated by the Bill Clinton administration. Under that agreement North Korea was not to develop nuclear weapons, and in return the US was to give that reclusive country fuel and nuclear power reactors.

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