The decision to reactivate nuclear facilities came after the U.S. "unilaterally abandoned its commitment to supply heavy oil in compensation for the loss of [nuclear] electricity"

WASHINGTON, December 23 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – While preparing a ‘solo’ attack on 12-year-sanction-hit Iraq for the alleged unproven possession of nuclear weapons, the U.S. has urged North Korea not to restart its frozen nuclear facilities, saying Pyongyang's decision to remove U.N. monitoring equipment from them "raises further serious concerns."

North Korea's decision came as a response to the United States’ decision in October to end the oil supplies.

"We urge the Democratic People's Republic of Korea [DRPK] not to restart its frozen nuclear facilities," said Louis Fintor, a spokesman for the State Department, on Sunday, December 22, according to Agence France-Presse.

"A move to restart them would fly in the face of the international consensus that the North Korean regime must fulfill all its commitments, and in particular dismantle its covert nuclear weapons program," he added.

Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the energy-starved nation had started removing seals and monitoring cameras from frozen nuclear facilities to resume power production.

KCNA said the decision to reactivate nuclear facilities was taken because the United States had "unilaterally abandoned its commitment to supply heavy oil in compensation for the loss of [nuclear] electricity."

It was referring to the 1994 accord under which the North agreed to freeze its nuclear program in return for the shipment of 500,000 tons of fuel oil every year from the United States.

Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said seals had been removed from a spent fuel pond containing some 8,000 irradiated fuel rods in a five-megawatt nuclear plant in Yongbyong, in a statement published at its Vienna headquarters.

"The 8,000-odd spent fuel rods are of particular concern because they can be reprocessed to recover plutonium for nuclear weapons. They have no relevance for the generation of electricity," claimed Fintor.

Senator Richard Lugar, who will be chairman of the Senate's foreign relations committee next year, described North Korea's nuclear program as a threat to the United States.

"They are attempting to get a [missile] range that will reach the western part of the United States. So I would say we're looking at a very dangerous situation, initially for South Korea and for Japan, but ultimately for the United States," he said.

In Vienna, IAEA director general Mohammed El-Baradei expressed "deep regret" and urged Pyongyang not to take any further action that would prevent the U.N. watchdog from monitoring Pyongyang's compliance with the 1994 accord.

"It is deplorable that the DPRK has not responded to repeated requests I have made for an urgently needed discussion on safeguards issues" that would bring the North into line with an agreement it had made on nuclear proliferation, El-Baradei said.

The announcement also prompted an 'urgent telephone call' between U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and South Korean Foreign Minister Choi Sung-Hong.

Powell urged continued strong South Korean-U.S. ties during the crisis, Choi's office said, while Choi agreed to seek help from China and Russia in persuading the Stalinist country to give up its nuclear ambitions.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi expressed widespread international alarm about Pyongyang's latest move.

"It is regrettable, and we are concerned about it," he said.

South Korean officials urged North Korea to reverse its decision and put its nuclear facilities back under U.N. surveillance.

While sparking alarm over its nuclear brinkmanship, Pyongyang was at the same time calling for rapprochement with South Korea, with its media reacting positively to the election of Roh Moo-Hyun as the south's next president.