A cooling pond for spent nuclear fuel rods at a nuclear facility in Yongbyon.

Hosoda's comments, published Oct. 17, represent the first time a Japanese official has confirmed Pyongyang's claim to have manufactured nuclear weapons, the Sankei Shimbun said.

"North Korea is near finalizing development of nuclear weapons," Hosoda said at a governing party meeting in Shimane on Oct. 16, the Sankei said.

Pyongyang has not finished developing uranium-based nuclear weapons, but has completed the development of a plutonium bomb similar to the one dropped by the United States on Nagasaki, Hosoda said.

The Japan Times Weekly: Oct. 23, 2004
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