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The Bush administration said on Thursday that the decision made by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to resume operating nuclear facilities, which were closed as part of a 1994 agreement with the United States, was regrettable.
"The statement that North Korea made is regrettable," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer. "The announcement flies in the face of international consensus that the North Korean regime must fulfill all its commitments, in particular dismantle its nuclear weapons program."
A DPRK Foreign MInistry spokesman said earlier in Pyongyang that DPRK will immediately resume the operation and construction of its nuclear facilities to generate electricity as a result of the "prevailing situation."
"Whether the DPRK refreezes its nuclear facilities or not hinges upon the US," the spokesman said in a statement.
The United States made a decision on Nov. 14 to suspend supplies of heavy oil to the DPRK, claiming that the DPRK had been developing a secret nuclear program in violation of the 1994 Agreed Framework, under which the DPRK would stop its nuclear program in return for two light water reactors and 500,000 tons of heavy oil provided by the United States.
(Xinhua News Agency December 13, 2002)
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