North Korea said Wednesday it has reactivated its nuclear facilities, a surprise announcement that raised questions whether it was trying to take advantage of Washington's preoccupation with Iraq to ratchet up pressure in its own standoff with the United States.
In Washington, the State Department said that if the announcement was true, "this would be a very serious development." It demanded the North "reverse this action ... North Korea must visibly, verifiably and irreversibly dismantle its nuclear weapons program."
A North Korean spokesman announced the reactivation, deepening the crisis over Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, just before Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke at the U.N. Security Council, presenting the U.S. case against Iraq.
The North said the reactivated facilities would "for the present stage" be used only to produce electricity ? but the United States says the facilities can produce nuclear weapons within months.
Even as it presses toward war with Iraq over alleged hidden weapons of mass destruction, the United States has insisted it wants a peaceful solution in its standoff with North Korea.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer discounted that Pyongyang was timing the issue with Iraq developments.
"North Korea has a history of doing things like they did in the 90s, outside of the context of Iraq," he said.
The North's announcement came hours after South Korea took a new step in its policy of trying to ease tensions by pursuing reconciliation with the isolated communist regime. Earlier Wednesday, the South opened a road across the heavily fortified border for the first time in more than half a century.
Pyongyang wants direct talks with Washington, something U.S. officials have resisted. Analysts say North Korea, which often accuses the United States of plotting to invade it, fears Washington will turn up pressure on it if a war against Iraq is successful.
