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 SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korea's president embarked Thursday on a one-day whirlwind trip to Washington to forge a united front with President Bush on dealing with North Korea, after Pyongyang dealt another setback to reconciliation with new nuclear boasts.
Based on the North's bold claims, Japan said Thursday it believed the communist nation's nuclear weapons programs were "considerably advanced." However, the Japanese Defense Agency's administrative deputy director, Takemasa Moriya, acknowledged that Tokyo's assessment relied on Pyongyang's actions and announcements, not hard evidence.
U.S. officials expressed optimism earlier this week after meetings with North Korean diplomats in New York that long-stalled nuclear disarmament talks would resume. But the North did not give any date for its return to the six-nation negotiations — which also include China, Japan, Russia and South Korea — and has reverted to its usual bombast in recent days.
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