The International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, has found that a new nuclear reactor is apparently operational at North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear complex, suggesting the country’s acquisition of additional means to obtain plutonium for nuclear weapons.
North Korea has been reprocessing used fuel from its 5-megawatt reactor at Yongbyon to produce plutonium needed for manufacturing its nuclear weapons.
The activities at the experimental Light Water Reactor (LWR) in the facility, however, suggest that it is also operational, according to the IAEA on Thursday.
"The discharge of warm water is indicative the reactor has reached criticality," the IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said in a statement. "The LWR, like any nuclear reactor, can produce plutonium in its irradiated fuel, which can be separated during reprocessing, so this is a cause for concern."
Despite the signs, Grossi still stated that full confirmation of the facility’s operational status requires the IAEA to gain access to the site.
“I repeat that the further development of the DPRK’s nuclear programme, including the construction and operation of the LWR, is a violation of UN Security Council resolutions and is deeply regrettable,” Grossi added, calling North Korea its formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The IAEA’s statement comes after North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un and his powerful sister Kim Yo Jong issued nuclear threats against the U.S. and South Korea.
Through the North’s official state media on Thursday, Kim Jong Un emphasized North Korea’s implementation of its “assertive response strategy,” which includes the potential for a nuclear attack in retaliation against the allies. Meanwhile, Kim Yo Jong issued a fresh warning that the allies should consider how Pyongyang might respond to what it perceives as their hostile actions.
North Korea has long labeled U.S.-South Korea joint drills as “invasion practice,” while Seoul and Washington call the exercise fully defensive. The U.S., South Korea and Japan conducted trilateral joint air drills off the southeastern coast of the Korean peninsula Wednesday. The drills included the strategic U.S. B-1B bomber plane, capable of carrying 57 tons of conventional armaments, according to the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
On Monday, North Korea fired its latest solid-fueled ICBM, the Hwasong-18, with the launch reaching a maximum altitude of about 6,500 kilometers (4,040 miles) and flying a distance of around 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) before hitting its target off its eastern coast.
Although the test was conducted at a high angle, it still represented a potential threat to the U.S. If launched at a lower trajectory, this missile may be capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.
During the landmark summit between the U.S. and North Korea in Singapore in June 2018, North Korea halted the operations at the Yongbyon complex. However, following the collapse of the second summit in Hanoi in February 2019, North Korea gradually showed signs of resuming activities at Yongbyon, with it publicly vowing that it now has no intention to denuclearize the country.
Edited by Taejun Kang and Mike Firn.