South Korea

Reactor activity confirmed

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry confirmed today that North Korea has restarted a small reactor that could produce plutonium for atomic weapons.

The United States and Japan had earlier said that the 5-megawatt reactor had been reactivated. But South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said earlier today that his Cabinet officials were still looking into the matter.

In today’s statement, the Foreign Ministry expressed “deep concern and regret over North Korea’s reactivation of the 5-megawatt reactor.”

U.S. officials said Wednesday that the reactor at its Yongbyon nuclear complex had been reactivated in what could be a first step toward the production of nuclear weapons.

For weeks, there have been conflicting reports about whether the reactor was up and running or not.

Washington, D.C.

Agriculture Department considers office closings

The government may close 200 Agriculture Department offices or move their services to other sites where farmers seek help in getting conservation money and subsidies, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said Thursday.

Veneman told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture that the agency increasingly was helping farmers via the Internet by giving them the opportunity to file paperwork electronically.

The department is studying its 2,632 offices to determine which sites providing rural development services — along with those run by the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Animal Plant Health and Inspection Service — are near one another and could be combined.

Florida

Lightning puts hole in wing of Gov. Jeb Bush’s plane

Gov. Jeb Bush’s plane was struck by lightning that zapped a hole in a wing during a flight Thursday from Tallahassee to Orlando.

None of the seven people on board was injured, said Alia Faraj, a spokeswoman for the governor.

Bush said he wasn’t scared. “Alia, on the other hand, was frightened, paralyzed,” he said wryly.

The twin-engine Beechcraft King Air, which seats up to 10 people, landed safely at its destination. The size of the hole was not immediately known.

Washington, D.C.

Officials investigate problems in smallpox vaccine recipients

Officials are investigating medical problems in three health care workers who became ill after receiving the smallpox vaccine, though only one appears to have had a reaction to the inoculation.

It is the first report of injuries associated with the month-old civilian vaccination program. The three people, whom officials would not identify, live in Florida and are doing well.

As of last week, 7,354 people had been vaccinated in 38 states and Los Angeles and New York, which are running separate programs.