SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea said yesterday it had taken steps that could allow it to harvest more plutonium for atomic bombs and that it would bolster its arsenal, the communist country’s latest provocation amid deadlocked talks over its nuclear program.

A North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said the country had removed 8,000 fuel rods from the reactor at its main nuclear complex at Yongbyon, 50 miles north of Pyongyang. North Korea kicked out international nuclear inspectors in late 2002, making it impossible to verify the claim.

If reprocessed, the rods could, after several months, yield enough plutonium for a couple of nuclear bombs, South Korean media reported. The North claimed in February to have nuclear weapons, and the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said recently the North previously had enough plutonium for up to six nuclear bombs.

The move comes amid rising international speculation about a possible North Korean nuclear test. American officials said last week that spy satellites looking at northeastern Kilju saw tunnel digging and the construction of a reviewing stand – possible indications of a test.

On Tuesday, China rejected using sanctions to prod North Korea to return to the six-nation talks on its nuclear ambitions, with a spokesman saying Beijing’s political and trade relations with its neighbor should be kept separate.

The statement by a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Liu Jianchao, came as a Bush administration official said America has asked Beijing to redouble its efforts to lure North Korea back to the negotiations. Three rounds of talks including China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and America haven’t led to any breakthroughs.

The Bush administration is depending heavily on China to rescue a faltering diplomatic effort to negotiate an end to the dispute, but has suggested no specific pressure tactics to Beijing, senior American officials said yesterday.

“We have normal bilateral relations” with North Korea, the Chinese Embassy spokesman, Maoming Chu, said in Washington, D.C. “We don’t try to solve problems through pressure or sanctions.”

The American officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they were unable to verify that China has dismissed the idea of sanctions to pressure North Korea.

The Washington Post reported last week that China had turned down an American request to pressure North Korea to return to nuclear disarmament talks by cutting off oil supplies.

On Tuesday, the North’s main newspaper alleged America was making a “fuss” by spreading reports of the alleged test preparations. However, the commentary in the state-run Rodong Sinmun daily didn’t deny the North was planning a test.

North Korea issues daily warnings to its citizens of the alleged threat of invasion by America, and since June 2004, has refused to return to the disarmament talks, citing Washington’s “hostile” policy. America has repeatedly said it has no intention of attacking North Korea, but American officials have said the nuclear impasse won’t be allowed to drag on forever.

The top American negotiator on the North Korean nuclear dispute will visit South Korea this week as part of efforts to lure Pyongyang back to the negotiating table, an official said yesterday.

During the four-day visit starting Friday, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill will meet South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon and another official, Song Min-soon, to discuss the issue.