Washington: North Korea has told the United States that it possesses nuclear weapons, but refused to confirm how many it has, Bush administration sources have revealed to the media.

North Korean delegate Ri Gun made the disclosure to US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly during a social gathering after the first session of the China-North Korea-US talks in Beijing on April 23, the sources said.

He also said that Pyongyang might test, export or use the nuclear weapons depending on US actions, the sources said.

Earlier, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had said that North Korea "may have" one or two nuclear weapons. But it was not definite about it. Also, it is still not known whether it has tested its nuclear weapons.

North Korea has said the only way a weaker power can protect itself against the US in the context of its present "aggressive" policies, as was demonstrated in Iraq, is by having nuclear weapons.

However, Secretary of State Colin Powell warned North Korea while speaking before the United States Asia Pacific Council on April 23 that the US would not be intimidated by what he called "bellicose statements".

Powell also said the US still has not taken any options off the table – a diplomatic phrase meaning that military action had not been ruled out – and that the US is looking for ways to "eliminate" the threat posed by any North Korean nuclear weapons programme.

US officials have said North Korea's disclosure suggests that Pyongyang was determined to strike a belligerent stance.

The North Koreans said they had made the same admission in 1993, but US officials who contacted former Clinton administration officials were told there appears to be no record of a previous North Korean statement to that effect, the 'Washington Post' quoted officials as saying.

Though US officials, said the 'Post', are still puzzled over the statement and its exact meaning, including whether North Korea was threatening to test a nuclear weapon, one official said, "It was very fast, very categorical, and obviously very scripted."

Gun also told the Americans that North Korea has almost completed reprocessing 8,000 spent fuel rods – a statement not confirmed by US intelligence. American officials said they believe that may be just a bluff, but it is a sobering bluff.

Analysts have said the fuel rods can be turned into material for two to three nuclear bombs within a few months.

North Korea said it is ready to settle the dispute, but that the "master key" for successful talks is for the US to drop its hostile policy towards Pyongyang.

Commenting on the talks, North Korea's KCNA news agency said, "The situation on the Korean Peninsula is so tense that a war may break out any moment due to the US moves."

It said relations with the US have hit "rock bottom" because President Bush has named North Korea as part of an "axis of evil," along with Iran and Iraq.

PTI