I think more nad more that forcing their hand early has been the only option.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/east/01/11/nkorea.nuclear/index.html

"BEIJING, China (CNN) -- North Korean representatives on Saturday said Pyongyang was acting in self defense by pulling out of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, and threatened to drop the nation's self-imposed missile moratorium.

"We believe we cannot continue our self-imposed missile moratorium, now that the United States has made all agreements invalid," North Korea's ambassador to China Choe Jin Su said at a news conference in Beijing.

Meanwhile in New Mexico, Gov. Bill Richardson continued to host what he called "positive, frank and candid" discussions about the crisis with two North Korean diplomats. Richardson, who emphasized that he does not represent the United States in the talks, was expected to meet again with the North Koreans on Saturday. (Full story)

Some U.S. defense analysts believe North Korea's missile development program could roll out a missile capable of hitting the continental United States before 2015.

Pyongyang insists its missile program is purely for peaceful space-research purposes, but has so far stuck by a self-imposed moratorium on test launches since 1999.

Pyongyang also insists that its withdrawal from the NPT -- the nonproliferation treaty -- does not mean it will be designing nuclear weapons. The treaty, signed by more then 187 nations, is designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.

"Although we pulled out of the NPT, we have no intention to produce nuclear weapons," Choe said. "Our nuclear activities at this stage will only be reserved for peaceful means, such as for the production of electricity."

The same statement was reiterated in Vienna, Austria, where North Korean Ambassador to Austria Kim Gwang Sop said North Korea was acting in "self defense."

"The decision of our withdrawal from NPT is legitimate self-defense measure," Kim said. "We made it clear that we have no intention to produce nuclear weapons ... If United States drops its hostile policy to stifle Democratic People's Republic of Korea and stops nuclear threat, Democratic People's Republic of Korea may prove through separate verification between DPRK and United States that it doesn't make any nuclear weapons."

Son Mun San, the counselor for relations with the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, said Saturday North Korea would be ready to start the Yongbyon nuclear reactor in a few weeks -- not months, as the IAEA initially believed.

He made it very clear that Yongbyon would only be used to produce energy.

On December 31, North Korea kicked out International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors stationed at the plant, leaving behind an unmonitored nuclear program in a nation the United States has dubbed part of an "axis of evil."

Son said North Korea needed the energy from the plant badly and was forced to reactivate the plant.

Pyongyang maintains it was forced to restart its nuclear plants to provide fuel after Washington stopped sending fuel shipments to North Korea, which it said was a violation of the nonproliferation treaty.

However, Washington says it stopped sending the fuel after North Korea disclosed it had a nuclear weapons program in October.

'Life-and-death battle'
According to the official North Korean news agency KCNA, more than 1 million people attended a Saturday rally in Pyongyang, with senior government officials addressing the crowd and giving details of Friday's decision to pull out of the NPT.

"The participants are fully determined to use every means and method and fight a life-and-death battle against those who try to infringe upon the nation's sovereignty and right to existence without any slightest compromise and concession," KCNA said.

The comment was apparently directed at the United States. Speakers at the rally also said the withdrawal from the treaty was "a legitimate measure for self-defense," KCNA said.

Condemnation
The moves make North Korea the first country to withdraw from the nonproliferation treaty -- a move that has been met with condemnation around the world.

On Friday U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell condemned the North's decision, saying Pyongyang had "thumbed its nose" at the international community. (Full story)

Tensions have been rising on the Korean Peninsula since last October when U.S. officials say North Korean officials admitted to them that they had continued with work to build nuclear weapons in defiance of a 1994 agreement.