nKorea and Uranium

White House Voices Concern On North Korea and Uranium, (Washington Post)…Glenn Kessler

The White House yesterday raised anew the possibility that North Korea has an active program to enrich uranium, an issue the administration had played down in recent years as it sought to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear programs.

In 2002, the administration accused Pyongyang of running a secret uranium program and demanded it be dismantled at once. But the accusation about the alleged uranium program backfired, sparking a series of events that ultimately led to North Korea’s first nuclear test — using another material, plutonium — in 2006. Then in 2007, intelligence analysts backed off the claim that North Korea had an active, full-scale program, saying they had only “mid-confidence” that such a program existed.

Albright said it was “irresponsible and inflammatory” for Hadley to highlight the concerns of just a segment of the intelligence community. “It fans the flames of controversy and hands Obama a hot potato.”