SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea told American lawmakers it already has nuclear weapons and intends to build more, a senior U.S. congressman said Monday after returning from a trip to the communist state.
Rep. Curt Weldon, who led a congressional delegation that visited Pyongyang for three days ending Sunday, said North Korean officials also told them they had almost completed reprocessing 8,000 spent fuel rods.
"They admitted to having nuclear capability and weapons at this moment," Weldon said at a news conference in Seoul. "They admitted to an effort to expand their nuclear production program."
U.S. officials have said North Korea claimed at talks in April in Beijing that it already had nuclear weapons but would give up its nuclear programs in return for economic aid and security guarantees.
Today, Weldon, R-Pa., said North Korean officials repeated that claim and even said they planned to produce more nuclear weapons despite pressure from the United States and its allies.
"They admitted to having just about completed the reprocessing of 8,000 rods," said Weldon, who is the No. 2 member of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee.
U.S. experts say the rods' reprocessing could give North Korea several more nuclear bombs within months.
During their three-day trip to Pyongyang, Weldon's delegation met North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan and Choe Thae Bok, chairman of North Korea's legislature, the Supreme People's Assembly.
Although they were not traveling as envoys of President Bush, they were first American officials to visit since the nuclear standoff began in October. They flew to Seoul on Sunday to brief South Korean officials on their trip.
North Korea said it was developing its nuclear weapons as "a response to what they saw happened in Iraq, with the U.S. removing Saddam Hussein from power," Weldon said.
North Korea has repeatedly accused Washington of planing to invade. Bush says he prefers a diplomatic solution, but has not ruled out a military option.
In Seoul, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said his government has no "clear proof" to conclude North Korea has nuclear weapons.
"North Korea has told important people of the United States that it has developed nukes and reprocessed spent fuel rods. But North Korea has not confirm that to anyone else," Roh said. "Thus, we must make a very careful judgment on whether we will conclude it has nuclear weapons or not, based on those words only."