North Korea has played another nuclear card, giving a more dangerous twist to its game of brinkmanship. Pyongyang claims that it already has nuclear weapons and has reprocessed thousands of spent nuclear fuel rods in its possession -- a step that could lead to the production of more atomic bombs. Given its record of equivocation, however, the statement can best be taken with a grain of salt, pending further clarification.
During three-way talks with the United States and China last week in Beijing, North Korea reportedly also said it might conduct nuclear tests to provide "physical proof" of its nuclear capability and might export nuclear arms. These comments, as well as the claim of possessing nuclear bombs, were made, according to U.S. officials, at a social gathering following formal discussions. The comment on fuel-rod reprocessing had come during a plenary session.
The remarks about bombs and reprocessing are not particularly new. U.S. administration officials have been saying for some time that North Korea may have already produced one or two bombs. Last October Pyongyang admitted it had a secret program to produce highly enriched uranium. And in the runup to the Beijing talks, it issued a statement indicating that it had started reprocessing spent nuclear fuel.