NKorea Raises Threat to Get US into Direct Talks

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea says it has completed
reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods to extract weapons-grade
plutonium.
    The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said Tuesday
that the country has finished reprocessing 8,000 spent fuel rods
that could give the communist nation enough plutonium to make at
least one atomic bomb.
    The announcement comes amid North Korean attempts to pressure
the United States into accepting its demand for direct talks.