US warns North Korea against nuclear 'provocation'
Washington (AFP) - The United States warned Wednesday that North Korea will face "severe consequences" if it continues with what Washington sees as its provocative decision to restart a nuclear reactor.
Pyongyang has said it has restarted the long-mothballed Yongbyon reactor, which is capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium, and has threatened to launch a rocket which US officials see as a test-bed for ballistic missile technology.
Challenged as to whether Washington could respond credibly to the North Korean moves after earlier striking a deal to allow Iran's nuclear program to continue under international supervision, Secretary of State John Kerry insisted it could.
"There will be severe consequences as we go forward if North Korea does not refrain from its irresponsible provocations that aggravate regional concerns, make the region less safe, and if it refuses to live up to its international obligations," he said.
"Our position is clear: We will not accept a DPRK North Korea as a nuclear weapons state, just as we said that about Iran."
Asked what the United States could do if North Korea continues to flout international agreements not to expand its nuclear and missile programs, Kerry said Kim Jong-Un's regime was already experiencing growing diplomatic isolation.
"China, for instance, has taken serious steps in the last year, year-and-a-half, since we engaged China on this subject specifically to encourage them to do more, and they have," he told reporters at the State Department.
Kerry said he had also spoken to his Russian ｃounterpart Sergei Lavrov about North Korean defiance.
"So there's a lot happening. And I can assure you that all of these ｃountries remain fixated on the need for North Korea to denuclearize with respect to its weapons program and to live up to its international obligations," he said.
North Korea mothballed the Yongbyon reactor in 2007 under a six-nation aid-for-disarmament accord but began renovating it after its latest nuclear test in 2013.
When fully operational the reactor is capable of producing around six kilograms (13 pounds) of plutonium a year enough for one nuclear bomb, experts say.
VOCABULARY:
1. Mothballed - To remove (a ship, for example) from active service or use and put into protective storage.
2.Ballistic [buh-lis-tik] - having its motion determined or describable by the laws of exterior ballistics.
3. Credible [kred-uh-buh l]- capable of being believed believable
4. Consequence [kon-si-kwens]- the effect, result, or outcome of something occurring earlier
5. Provocation [prov-uh-key-shuh n]- something that incites, instigates, angers, or irritates
6. Aggravate [ag-ruh-veyt]- to make worse or more severe intensify, as anything evil, disorderly, or troublesome
7. Flout [flout]- to treat with disdain, scorn, or contempt scoff at mock
8. Defiance [dih-fahy-uh ns]- a daring or bold resistance to authority or to any opposing force.
9. Disarmament [dis-ahr-muh-muh nt]- the reduction or limitation of the size, equipment, armament, etc., of the army, navy, or air force of a ｃountry.
10. Plutonium [ploo-toh-nee-uh m]- a transuranic element with a fissile isotope of mass number 239 (plutonium 239) that can be produced from non-fissile uranium 238, as in a breeder reactor. Symbol: Pu atomic number:94.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSIONS
1. What do you think are the motives of North Korea when they issued a threat against the United States of America?
2. In your own opinion, how do you think will be United States respond if North Korea makes good with their threat?
3. Should North Korea be considered for a negotiation similar to the terms of the Iran nuclear deal?
