North Korea is likely to restart its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, which is generally believed to have produced plutonium for its nuclear weapons in the past, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in an annual report released on Monday.
North Korea has accelerated its nuclear weapons development program in the wake of a ban by IAEA experts, and will soon resume its nuclear tests, most recently in 2017.
From December 2018 until now, there has been no indication that any reactor has been operating, but since then, among other things, cooling water has been removed, a disturbing and clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
– He reads the report that refers to the 5-megawatt Jeongbyon reactor, which is the core of North Korea’s nuclear program. The International Atomic Energy Agency also suspects that uranium is being mined again at the Pyongyang mine.
Highly enriched uranium is another important element in nuclear weapons in addition to plutonium. The IAEA always publishes its annual report online without notice before consulting its member states.
North Korea has threatened in recent months to expand its nuclear program if the United States does not abandon its “hostile policies” against it,
Which clearly means US punitive measures and regular military exercises between South Korea and America.
Regarding the IAEA report, an unnamed US official told Yonhap News Agency on Sunday that dialogue and diplomacy with North Korea urgently needed to resume.
