Clinton and Bush Knew of N. Korean Nuclear Tunnels
Stewart Stogel, NewsMax.com
Tuesday, July 22, 2003
NEW YORK -- A former official of the International Atomic Energy
Agency (the U.N. atomic watchdog) claims that North Korea had constructed several secret underground tunnels at its Yongbyon nuclear center and both the Clinton and Bush administrations knew about them:
"We (the IAEA) knew of several underground tunnels under Yongbyon, several kilometers in length that crossed a nearby river and went out towards the mountains (nearby)."
"We asked the North Koreas what these tunnels were for and where did they go. They replied: they are tunnels just going to underground storage facilities to secure the (atomic fuel) in the event of a war."
The former official explained that IAEA officials were taken only part
way through the tunnels, but never to their final exit point.
All of this occurred in late 1994 and into 1995 when the Clinton
White House was trying to sell its nuclear deal with North Korea
to Congress.
The former IAEA inspector stated that the tunnels were large enough not only to transport fuel but could conceivably transport the machinery for an atomic reactor and a reprocessing plant.
All of this could be done with little detection by U.S. or Russian spy
satellites.
It was noted that the Clinton White House knew of and was so concerned
about these tunnels that Washington made clear to Pyongang that two
new nuclear reactors being built by South Korea for the North could not be completed until IAEA inspectors could fully investigate the tunnel complex.
That issue became moot when the Bush White House suspended the nuclear
agreement with North Korea and froze the construction of the new reactors last year.
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
North Korea
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