IAEA/DPRK: INSPECTIONS DIRECTOR DOUBTS NORTH KOREA

S E C R E T UNVIE VIENNA 000190 SIPDIS ISN FOR GROMOLL AND MAHAFFEY, IO FOR DETEMPLE, EAP FOR KELLY AND JOHNSON E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/28/2034 TAGS: AORC IAEA KN KNNP SUBJECT: IAEA/DPRK: INSPECTIONS DIRECTOR DOUBTS NORTH KOREA COULD HAVE BEGUN REPROCESSING REF: A. UNVIE 00164 ¶B. UNVIE 00162 Classified By: AMBASSADOR GREGORY L. SCHULTE FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (U) This is an action request, see para 3. ¶2. (S) Director of Safeguards Division Operations A, Marco Marzo, told MsnOff on April 28 that he did not believe North Korea could have begun reprocessing the spent fuel by April 25, as the DPRK claims. (Note: North Korea publicly announced on April 25 that it had begun reprocessing spent fuel rods and that it would use the plutonium extracted from the rods to make nuclear weapons.) Marzo indicated that the IAEA has not engaged with North Korea since inspectors departed North Korea on April 16 (see reftels),so this judgment is based only on the IAEA's historic knowledge. ¶3. (SBU) Action request: Mission notes that the Vienna-based DPRK "Core Group" (composed of Canada, Australia, the UK, Japan, South Korea, Germany France, and the United States) will meet on April 30 to share views on the current situation with North Korea, including the status of Six Party Talks and next steps. Mission requests guidance for any points to raise during this meeting with our like-minded colleagues. SCHULTE