SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he doesn’t believe North Korea’s new, advanced nuclear facility is part of a peaceful nuclear energy program.
He says it appears to be a uranium enrichment facility that could enable North Korea to build more nuclear weapons.
North Korea recently showed off the formerly secret facility to a visiting American scientist. The scientist says the facility appears consistent with the North’s stated plan for an energy program, but warned it could be used for bomb-making.
Gates, traveling in Bolivia for a regional defense conference, also says North Korea has developed longer-range missiles that might deliver nuclear weapons.
