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1990

The Soviet Union halts exports of nuclear equipment and fuel to North Korea after warning it to accept full-scope IAEA safeguards.

Naoaki Usui, Nucleonics Week, 30 May 1991, pp.17-18.

1990

The West German company, Degussa AG, is fined $800,000 for illegally re-exporting nuclear weapons-related material to North Korea.

Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., Jane’s Intelligence Review, September 1991, p.409.

1990

North Korea tests its reprocessing facility. During the test, North Korea reprocesses damaged fuel rods.

Nuclear Engineering International, July 1992, p.2.

February 1990

The IAEA Board of Governors advises North Korea to sign the Full-Scale Safety Measure Agreement by June 1990. If signed, the agreement will confirm that North Korea has a nuclear development capability.

Seoul Sinmun (Seoul), 7 March 1990, p.2.

February 1990

At an IAEA council meeting, Australia and 20 other countries propose a resolution asking North Korea to sign the IAEA safeguards agreement. Prior to the proposal, South Korea requests that the IAEA “take punitive measures against North Korea.”

Choe Maeng-ho, Tong-A Ilbo (Seoul), June 1991, p.1.

February 1990

North Korea announces that it will accept inspections of its nuclear facilities and sign the IAEA safeguards agreement if the United States removes its nuclear weapons stationed in South Korea.

Yi Chun-pal, Seoul Domestic Service, 14 February 1990.

February 1990

Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Taizo Watanabe urges North Korea to sign the IAEA safeguards agreement after hearing South Korean reports regarding suspected Soviet-assisted construction of a nuclear power plant in North Korea. Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobou Ishihara says that Japan is attempting to verify reports that the facilities at Yongbyon will be used to develop nuclear weapons. North Korea acknowledges that it has only one nuclear research reactor, which was finished in February 1987.

Tim Johnson, Kyodo (Tokyo), 9 February 1990.

February 1990

North Korea’s representative to the IAEA, Yun Ho-jin, lists North Korea’s conditions for signing the IAEA safeguards agreement. They include: (1) all US nuclear weapons be removed from South Korea, (2) the US-South Korean Team Spirit military exercises be discontinued, and (3) North Korea be allowed to declare the safeguards agreement “null and void, depending on [its] evaluation of the attitudes” of nuclear weapons states.

Song Yong-son, Sindong-A (Seoul), August 1990, pp.206-215.

February 1990

North Korea’s Ministry of Atomic Power Industry concludes a nuclear energy-related agreement with Cuba.

Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., Jane’s Intelligence Review, September 1991, p.410.

February 1990

It is suspected that final site selection and testing for the 1760MW nuclear power plant are complete and that construction begins. It is estimated that the nuclear power plant will cost the Soviet Union 2.2 million rubles.

Asahi Shimbun (Tokyo), 19 May 1992, p.20; Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., Jane’s Intelligence Review, September 1991, p.409.

7 February 1990

Japanese scientists at Tokai University conduct an analysis of French infrared satellite photographs of the Yongbyon complex taken in July 1986 and September 1989. The photographs, which reveal a nuclear reprocessing plant at the site, confirm the 1989 US intelligence reports about a nuclear-weapons facility at Yongbyon.

Defense and Foreign Affairs Weekly, 11-17 June 1990, p.4; Kyodo (Tokyo), 8 February 1990; Yonhap (Seoul), 9 February 1990.

9 February 1990

It is suspected that North Korea’s 5MW nuclear reactor has produced 200-500 tons of waste, which is enough to reprocess and use to produce nuclear weapons.

Yonhap (Seoul), 9 February 1990.

10 February 1990

Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze announces that North Korea is very close to concluding a safeguards agreement with the IAEA. North Korea says however, that it will not sign the agreement until the United States removes nuclear weapons from South Korea. The United States rejects this demand due to North Korea’s larger conventional forces.

G. Petrov, Rabochaya Tribuna (Moscow), 4 March 1990, p.3.

26 February 1990

North Korea denies charges that it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons. It announces that it is developing a nuclear plant and conducting research on peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

Nuclear News, 1 April 1990, pp.73-74.

March 1990

North Korea processes a “gram-unit” of plutonium. The plutonium is reportedly extracted from damaged nuclear fuel rods from the 5MW research reactor.

Yonhap (Seoul), 5 Decmeber 1992.

1 March 1990

Soviet Foreign Minister Gennady Gerasimov announces that the Soviet Union will assist North Korea in constructing the 1760MW nuclear power plant. In doing so, the Soviet Union will “take into account the situation with the signing of an agreement between” North Korea and the IAEA. A site is in the process of being selected. It is expected that preliminary work will be completed by early-1992, and that the technical design of the plant will be drawn up and transferred after 1994.

TASS (Moscow), 1 March 1990.

6 March 1990

US President George Bush, South Korean President Roh Tae-woo and a Japanese official express concern about the nuclear facility in North Korea capable of processing nuclear fuel for use in nuclear weapons

Nuclear Developments, 16 March 1990, pp.32-33.

7 March 1990

The International Affairs Institute in France and the British journal, Jane’s Weekly, state that North Korea is pursuing nuclear development for military purposes. South Korea’s Seoul Sinmun requests that North Korea make its facilities public and allow international inspections. Furthermore, it accuses North Korea of plotting to provoke another war in which it may use nuclear weapons.

Seoul Sinmun, 7 March 1990, p.2.

12 March 1990

The South Korean government proposes that it establish a hotline with North Korea to assist one another in preventing a nuclear accident. The proposal is announced at the International Conference for Nuclear Cooperation in Asia. During the conference, South Korean Minister of Science and Technology Sang Hee-lee requests that North Korea sign the IAEA safeguards agreement.

Nuclear Developments, 16 March 1990, p.7.

28 March 1990

The US Department of Commerce announces that the East German company, Degussa AG, has violated US export/re-export laws. Degussa AG made three unauthorized shipments between 15 September 1986 and 15 October 1987 of US-origin zirconium to North Korea. The company failed to get authorization from the US Department of Commerce before re-exporting the zirconium. Had Degussa AG applied for authorization of the shipments, it would have been denied.

US Department of Commerce News, 28 March 1990, pp.1-2.

April 1990

Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze and US Secretary of State James A. Baker meet and discuss the importance of North Korea signing the IAEA safeguards agreement. North Korea refuses to sign the agreement until the United States removes its nuclear weapons from South Korea. The United States rejects this demand due to North Korea’s larger conventional forces on the Peninsula.

Andrew Mack, Far Eastern Economic Review, 31 May 1990, p.24.

April 1990

US Undersecretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz announces that North Korea is far from possessing the technology necessary to develop nuclear weapons. The United States estimates that it will take North Korea five years to manufacture a nuclear weapon due to the Soviet Union’s tight control over proliferation.

Yi Chang-sun, Seoul Sinmun (Seoul), 19 June 1990, p.5; Leonard S. Spector and Jacqueline R. Smith, Arms Control Today, March 1991, p.12.

1 April 1990

North Korea says that it will allow international inspections and become a member of an international inspection system by the end of 1990.

O Tae-chin, Chosun Ilbo (Seoul), 3 April 1990, p.3.

2 April 1990

Japanese Foreign Affairs Ministry’s director of the UN department Akao asks Soviet Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Petrovskiy to convince North Korea to comply with the IAEA.

Seoul Sinmun (Seoul), 22 April 1990, p.1.

15 April 1990

According to a source from the Japanese Foreign Ministry, North Korea is demanding that nuclear-possessing countries sign a treaty with non-nuclear possessing countries stating that the former will not use nuclear weapons against the latter. North Korea says that in return for this treaty, it will allow verification of its facilities. International experts believe that North Korea’s request is merely a delaying tactic to allow it to develop nuclear weapons.

Yi Yun-song, Seoul Television Service (Seoul), 15 April 1990.

18 April 1990

According to Deputy Director General of the IAEA, Boris Semenov, North Korea will sign the IAEA safeguards agreement by September 1990.

Yonhap (Seoul), 18 April 1990.

19 April 1990

US Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Paul Wolfowitz confirms the existence of a nuclear reprocessing plant in North Korea. The plant is suspected to be several years from completion.

Leonard S. Spector and Jacqueline R. Smith, Arms Control Today, March 1991, pp.8-13.

May 1990

North Korea issues a proposal that includes: (1) suggested confidence-building measures between the North and South, (2) phased arms reductions by both sides, (3) phased withdrawals of all foreign forces to accompany the creation of a nuclear-weapons-free zone on the peninsula, (4) adoption of a declaration on nonaggression, and (5) a final peace treaty (including the United States) to replace the 1953 armistice. The proposal was initially made in July 1987, followed by revisions in November 1988 and then May 1990.

Leonard S. Spector and Jacqueline R. Smith, Arms Control Today, March 1991, p.12.

June 1990

The United States, Japan and some Western European countries lift export controls on high-tech goods to Eastern Europe, thereby making it easier for North Korea to buy dual-use goods for nuclear weapons through Eastern Europe.

Jim Mann, Los Angeles Times, 27 January 1991, pp.A1, A28-29.

14 June 1990

South Korea’s Minister of Science and Technology Chong Kun-mo says that North Korea has notified the IAEA that it will send a delegation to the IAEA in July 1990 to discuss signing the safeguards agreement.

Yi Chang-sun, Seoul Sinmun (Seoul), 19 June 1990, p.5.

15 June 1990

South Korea’s Minister of Science and Technology Chong Kun-mo announces that South Korea will assist North Korea in constructing the 1760MW nuclear power plant after North Korea signs the IAEA safeguards agreement in July 1990. He also announces that IAEA member countries will adopt a resolution asking North Korea to sign the safeguards agreement if it has not done so by July 1990.

Arms Control Reporter, July 1990, pp.457, B34; Margaret L. Ryan, Nucleonics Week, 21 June 1990, pp.7-8; Nuclear Developments, 28 June 1990, p.7; Yonhap (Seoul), 16 June 1990.

16 June 1990

North Korea announces that it will withdraw from the NPT if the United States fails to promise that it will not carry out a nuclear attack against it.

Nuclear Developments, 28 June 1990, p.7.

18 June 1990

According to South Korea’s Minister of Science and Technology Chong Kun-mo, it has not been proven whether North Korea has acquired the technological knowledge necessary to develop nuclear weapons. He confirms that North Korea has a 5MW experimental nuclear reactor at Yongbyon, but does not know whether it has plutonium reprocessing facilities.

Yonhap (Seoul), 19 June 1990

19 June 1990

A Soviet official leaks a story claiming that North Korea will possess nuclear weapons within six months. The “leak” may be a strategy to apply international pressure on North Korea to sign the IAEA’s safeguards agreement.

Yi Chang-sun, Seoul Sinmun (Seoul), 19 June 1990, p.5.

July 1990

US President George Bush demands that North Korea sign the IAEA safeguards agreement. The North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that it is prepared to sign the agreement if the United States removes its nuclear threat to North Korea.

Korean Central News Agency (Pyongyang), 16 July 1990.

18 July 1990

According to a South Korean military strategist, if North Korea refuses to suspend its nuclear program, South Korea will be forced to develop atomic weapons in response.

Kyong Won-ha, a former US nuclear engineer at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and a former professor at McGill University in Canada is reported to have entered North Korea with data on a Canadian-developed research reactor. Chief of the Korean multipurpose research reactor project group in South Korea, Dr. Kim Tong-kun, says that the research reactor in North Korea is crude in quality, but suitable for plutonium production.

Cho Kap-che, Wolgun Choson (Seoul), April 1990, pp.220-255.

21 July 1990

North Korea proposes direct talks with the United States as a condition for agreeing to IAEA on-site inspections. North Korea says that it will sign the IAEA’s safeguards agreement if the United States: (1) promises not to launch a nuclear attack against it, and (2) withdraws its nuclear weapons from South Korea.

Kyodo (Tokyo), 21 July 1990.

23 August 1990

At the Nuclear Nonproliferation Review Conference, Algeria, Chile, Cuba, Myanmar (Burma), Tanzania, the United Arab Emirates and Zimbabwe express concern that North Korea has not signed the IAEA safeguards agreement.

Japan Times (Tokyo), 25 August 1990.

Fall 1990

Satellite photographs reveal a large reactor under construction in North Korea. Japanese experts estimate that it is a 100-200MW reactor that will use natural uranium for fuel. According to the director of Tokai University’s Research and Information Center, Toshibumi Sakata, “Everything is there except transformers and power lines.” Japanese officials say that higher-resolution satellite photographs reveal anti-aircraft guns surrounding the reactor construction site.

David E. Sanger, New York Times, 7 April 1991, p.E2.

September 1990

North Korean President Kim Il-sung declines to discuss North Korea’s refusal to sign the IAEA safeguards agreement with Japan’s former Deputy Prime Minister Shin Kanemaru and Vice Chairman of the Japanese Socialist Party Makoto Tanabe. He does, however, say that if North Korea is to be subject to inspections, then so should South Korea. The Soviet Union and the United States continue to urge North Korea to sign the safeguards agreement. North Korea responds by criticizing the United States for posing a nuclear threat and calls for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Kyodo (Tokyo), 26 September 1990.

September 1990

The Soviet Union suspends the sale of the four VVER-440MW nuclear reactors to North Korea due to concerns that North Korea will withdraw from the NPT.

Defense and Foreign Affairs Weekly, 9-15 July 1990, p.3.

September 1990

In a meeting with former Soviet Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze, North Korean Foreign Minister Kim Young-nam threatens that North Korea will begin to develop “certain weapons” ordinarily supplied by the Soviet Union if the Soviet Union continues to further relations with South Korea. Specifically, he says, it would be a “nuclear development.” Kim also threatens to support Japanese territorial claims against the Soviet Union.

Kensuke Ebata, Jane’s Defence Weekly, 12 January 1991, p.46; Leonard S. Spector and Jacqueline R. Smith, Arms Control Today, March 1991, p.11.

19 September 1990

Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke informs Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Nakayama that Australia is concerned about the prospect of North Korea having a nuclear weapons capability.

Kyodo (Tokyo), 19 September 1990.

October 1990

US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Richard Solomon declares that the United States views “nuclear proliferation on the Korean Peninsula as the number one threat to security in East Asia.”

Leonard S. Spector and Jacqueline R. Smith, Arms Control Today, March 1991, p.9.

October 1990

The United States shows its KH-11 spy-satellite photographs to various officials, including those from the Japanese Foreign Ministry. The photographs reveal that North Korea is near completing construction on its third reactor and reprocessing facility. The photographs also show outlines of a dome that is suspected to house a gas-cooled nuclear reactor.

Arms Control Reporter, April 1991, pp.457, B40.

8 November 1990

According to IAEA Director General Hans Blix, North Korea is likely to sign the safeguards agreement within the next six months because there is “nothing is left to discuss” in the ongoing negotiations.

Nucleonics Week, 8 November 1990, pp.14-15.

16 November 1990

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry issues a statement of conditions that must be met in order for North Korea to sign the IAEA safeguards agreement. One of the conditions is that the United States must provide North Korea with a “legal guarantee” that it will not pose a nuclear threat against it.

Pyongyang Domestic Service, 16 November 1990.

17 November 1990

According to a North Korea foreign ministry statement released by the North Korean Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations, North Korea will accept the IAEA safeguards agreement after (1) the Korean Peninsula is transformed into a nuclear-free zone, and (2) the United States withdraws its nuclear forces from the region. The statement also says that North Korea “can sign a nuclear safeguards agreement only on condition that the United States gives legal assurances that it would not resort” to threats of nuclear use.

Leonard S. Spector and Jacqueline R. Smith, Arms Control Today, March 1991, p.10.

24 November 1990

Following the US-IAEA-North Korean meeting in China, US Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Richard Solomon receives a report which states that North Korea may sign the IAEA safeguards agreement in order to improve relations with the United States and Japan.

Jane’s Defence Weekly, 24 November 1990, p.1019.

1 December 1990

Japanese Ambassador to South Korea Kenichi Yanagi says that Japan will not normalize its relations with North Korea until North Korea signs the IAEA safeguards agreement.

Kyodo (Tokyo), 1 December 1990.

Acknowledgements:
Brooke Milton and Gaurav Kampani
© Center for Nonproliferation Studies,
Monterey Institute of International Studies

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