Us North Korea Agreements

April 14, 2009: In response to the UN Security Council statement, the North Korean Foreign Ministry announces that Pyongyang is withdrawing from the six-party talks and will „no longer be bound by any of its agreements.“ North Korea also says it will reverse measures taken under the six-year agreements in 2007 and will „completely process“ the 8,000 spent fuel rods at its Yongbyon reactor to extract plutonium from nuclear weapons. On January 24, 2013, North Korean officials openly stated that they wanted to hold a third nuclear test. In a written statement from North Korea`s National Defense Commission, „a high-level nuclear test will target the United States, the sworn enemy of the Korean people.“ U.S. intelligence agencies believe that from January 2013, North Korea will be able to target Hawaii with its current technology and resources, and that it could reach the neighboring United States within three years. The White House called the Korean statement „unnecessarily provocative“ and said „further provocations will only reinforce Pyongyang`s isolation.“ [182] Analysis of satellite photos from the American Institute of Korea at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site shows that North Korea was ready to conduct nuclear tests at the same time as it launched the threat. [183] Subsequent statements by North Korea also contained direct threats against South Korea that North Korea would take „strong physical counter-measures against the South“ in response to UN sanctions against the North. [184] A 2013 Gallup poll found that „Americans (55%) says that the United States should defend South Korea if it has been attacked by its northern neighbor, while about a third (34%) said that this should not be the case. [185] August 25, 2017: North Korea is testing three short-range ballistic missiles to the northeast, two of which flew about 155 miles and one of them exploded immediately. Part of the statement between North Korea and Japan refers to nuclear weapons and states that the two countries „reaffirmed their commitment to respect all international agreements for a comprehensive settlement of the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula.“ It is not certain that this statement merely confirms a commitment to existing agreements or shows support for additional arms control measures. Pyongyang tells Beijing, chairman of the six-party talks, its 15 nuclear facilities and said it had 30 kilograms of plutonium and had consumed two kilograms during its 2006 nuclear test.