The International Atomic Energy Agency said clues, such as the discharge of cooling water, observed in early July, indicated the plant was active. No such test had been observed since December 2018, the IAEA said.
“The continuation of the DPRK’s nuclear program is a clear violation of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and is deeply regrettable,” the report added, referring to North Korea by its official acronym, Republic Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
The IAEA said there were also signs of activity at the nearby radiochemistry lab, from mid-February to early July. The power plant is used to make nuclear fuel and the radiochemistry lab is used to reprocess the plant’s fuel rods into plutonium that could theoretically be used in the manufacture of nuclear weapons.
Both the plant and the laboratory are located in North Korea’s best-known nuclear complex, Yongbyon.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said in June that the duration of activity in the laboratory was consistent “with the time required for a reprocessing campaign.”
However, Grossi said it was not possible to confirm that reprocessing was taking place. IAEA inspectors were expelled from North Korea in 2009 and the agency has been forced to monitor the country’s nuclear facilities remotely.
The South Korean Foreign Ministry said it is monitoring North Korea’s nuclear and missile activity continuously in close cooperation with the United States.
The fact that a reprocessing campaign has been carried out probably indicates that North Korea had already produced nuclear fuel for reprocessing. It is still unclear whether this fuel was a few years old or was produced recently and covertly.
Jeffrey Lewis, an arms expert and professor at the Middlebury Institute for International Studies, said that while the IAEA report was expected, it is an important reminder of the challenges facing the President of the United States, Joe Biden, faces North Korea with nuclear weapons.
“At some level, none of this is new, but it should be noted that the IAEA has said the usual business is going on in Yongbyon,” Lewis said. “One of the problems we’ve had with North Korea is that it’s been working as usual for years now, people have gotten used to the idea (of a North Korea with nuclear weapons) and they forget about it. happening and we only register from time to time “.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un allegedly offered to dismantle the Yongbyon complex in exchange for easing sanctions during negotiations with former U.S. President Donald Trump in Hanoi in 2019. that, these conversations collapsed in part because neither side was willing to move. Trump’s team wanted ballistic missiles or other nuclear sites included in the deal, and Kim refused to accept a Yongbyon trade for relief from partial sanctions, the memo wrote in its memoirs. former Trump national security adviser John Bolton.
President Biden’s administration has made several attempts to contact North Korea by e-mail to begin talks with Washington, a senior South Korean official with direct knowledge of the situation told CNN.
North Korea has confirmed receipt of emails, the official said, but did not feel compelled to respond because of what is seen as a lack of a detailed agenda or any serious indication that the U.S. is willing to move forward. the conversation of what was agreed upon. at the first Singapore summit of Trump and Kim in June 2018.