channel[van]

SEOUL, South Korea — One day after its nuclear test drew angry and widespread condemnation, North Korea further antagonized the international community on Tuesday by test-firing three short-range missiles. In addition, a South Korean newspaper reported on Wednesday that American spy satellites had detected plumes of steam and other signs of activity at a North Korean plant that reprocesses spent nuclear fuel to make weapons-grade plutonium. The report from the newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, appeared to support a claim by North Korea in late April that it had restarted its reprocessing plant at Yongbyon, 60 miles north of Pyongyang, the capital. The missile firings came just hours after South Korea said it would join an American-led operation to stop the global trafficking in unconventional weapons, an action the North had said it would consider a declaration of war. The developments sharpened the confrontation between North Korea and much of the world — especially the United States — as the U