N. Korea nuke restart 'unacceptable'

WASHINGTON, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- President George W. Bush and South Korean President Kim Dae-jung spoke by telephone Friday and voiced concern over North Korea's stated intention to restart its plutonium-based nuclear fuel programs, which also produce materials for nuclear programs weapons, the White House said.

North Korea's decision to reopen three nuclear power plants was "unacceptable," Kim said, and Bush said they should "continue seeking a peaceful resolution while not allowing business as usual to continue with North Korea."

Who called whom was not immediately clear.

Kim said, "The current circumstances make the U.S.-Korean alliance more important than ever."

The North Korean announcement follows a decision by the United States and its allies to cut fuel supplies to the North following Pyongyang's disclosure in October it was violating a 1994 agreement to abandon its nuclear weapons program in exchange for fuel and for help in building modern nuclear power reactors.

Pyongyang did shut down its three plutonium plants, but surreptitiously began a separate nuclear-fuel enrichment program.

U.S. intelligence believes North Korea already has one or two nuclear bombs as a result of its plutonium production process.