North Korea issues nuclear threat, page 1

North Korea has said it will immediately reactivate a mothballed nuclear power plant, frozen under a 1994 agreement with the US.

The North Korean foreign ministry said it was responding to a US-led decision to suspend oil aid to Pyongyang as a punishment for a separate, alleged nuclear weapons programme.

North Korea said it was reactivating the plant to make up for the electricity shortfall caused by the ending of the heavy oil shipments.

The US and its regional allies - South Korea and Japan - are worried that the plant could also be used as part of a wider nuclear weapons programme, which North Korea has regularly stated the "right" to possess.

South Korea's Government expressed "strong regret and grave concern" over the development.

Japan described the threat as "deplorable" and vowed to continue to work closely with the United States and South Korea.

BBC News