North Korea's pursuit of a second path to nuclear weapons by enriching uranium is a problem likely to persist and Pyongyang needs to come clean about its intentions, a U.S. envoy for the reclusive state said on Sunday, according to Reuters. North Korea, which has produced enough plutonium for an estimated six to eight bombs, said on Friday it had made advances in uranium enrichment, a move analysts saw as a tactic to put pressure on regional powers after a month of conciliatory gestures. "This is not the first we have heard of HEU (highly enriched uranium) and it may not be the last," Stephen Bosworth told reporters in Seoul, a day after having talks with South Korean officials. "If we are going to deal as we wish with the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, this is an issue that will have to be clarified," said Bosworth, who has just visited Beijing and will next visit Tokyo to discuss stalled six-country diplomatic efforts on ending the North's nuclear arms programme. The U.S. has long suspected North Korea of trying to enrich uranium for weapons but proliferation experts said the North is nowhere near a full scale programme, and it would take several years at least before it could reach that stage. Bosworth said the enrichment was a concern and: "We have just begun to consider the question of what we might do in response." Yonhap News reported later on Sunday, citing un unnamed Korean government official, that the United States and South Korea agreed that a two-way approach of sanctions and dialogue for North Korea would continue.
