2nd N. Korean nuclear site not likely

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Radioactive gas detected recently over North Korea by U.S. intelligence agencies is likely to have originated from the Yongbyon reprocessing plant and not from a separate, secret nuclear site, The Washington Times has learned.

Defense officials familiar with intelligence reports said the detection of krypton-85 gas by a U.S. "sniffer" intelligence aircraft is evidence that North Korea has begun producing plutonium from spent nuclear fuel rods.

The detection of the gas, which is a byproduct of the reprocessing method, and limited vehicle and human activity at the Yongbyon reprocessing facility has fueled speculation among some officials that North Korea has a second nuclear reprocessing facility hidden underground in the mountainous communist state.

The New York Times reported Saturday that an intelligence analysis of where the krypton-85 originated suggested that the gas did not come from Yongbyon but a hidden underground plant in the mountains.

However, U.S. intelligence agencies have no knowledge of a second plant, and the likeliest source for the gas is Yongbyon, the American officials said about the New York Times report.

One U.S. official said North Korea has numerous underground weapons and military facilities in the mountains throughout the country, and suspicions of more facilities have dogged the U.S. government for years.

"They keep a lot of bad things underground," the official said.

In Seoul, a spokesman for South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun also played down the New York Times report.

"The president expressed concern about the phenomenon of unclear and groundless media reports," Kim Man-soo said.