N. Korea nukes still 'serious' issue to U.S.

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North Korea's nuclear activities, including its repeated claims to be reprocessing stored nuclear-fuel rods, remain a "serious problem" for the United States, Bush administration officials said yesterday.

Larry Di Rita, the senior Pentagon spokesman, told reporters that the combination of North Korea's nuclear weapons and its missile and weapons exports is a major danger.

"It's a serious circumstance," he said.

Pyongyang has said it has a nuclear-arms program and the Pentagon believes the hermit Stalinist state possesses nuclear weapons, Mr. Di Rita said.

"So that's serious, and North Korea is the world's worst proliferator of ballistic-missile technology. So that's a pretty deadly combination," he said in a meeting with reporters at the Pentagon.

Asked about intelligence reports indicating that North Korea has begun reprocessing spent fuel rods that were supposed to be kept in storage under a 1994 U.S.-North Korea agreement, Mr. Di Rita declined to discuss intelligence matters.

Still, "the North Koreans themselves are telling us that they've reprocessed it," he said, noting recent press reports. "When they told us they had nuclear weapons, they meant it, and I'm not in a position to characterize the intelligence assessment of what the North Koreans are telling us, but certainly what they've told us in the past have been worth paying attention to."

Mr. Di Rita said the Bush administration is exploring "all diplomatic possibilities" for dealing with North Korea's nuclear program and its weapons proliferation.

At the State Department, spokesman Richard Boucher said North Korea's international isolation is growing as a result of its nuclear ambitions.