North Korea Says Nuclear Rods Pulled from Reactor

This means that North Korea is feeling left out again: North Korea Says Nuclear Rods Pulled from Reactor

"Necessary measures to bolster its nuclear arsenal" is how North Korea referred to the moves in a statement attributed to an unnamed Foreign Ministry official and carried over the official news service.

The defiant announcement from Pyongyang, the capital, is sure to add to an aura of crisis building around the North's weapons program.

The 8,000 fuel rods that North Korea says it removed from a 5-megawatt reactor at its main nuclear compound in Yongbyon could produce enough plutonium for three nuclear bombs.

South Korea, which has otherwise reacted calmly to recent provocative moves by North Korea, expressed alarm today at the latest development.

Meanwhile, there are still a lot of hungry people in the DPRK.