SEOUL — North Korea appears to have restarted a reactor in its main nuclear complex, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said in a report, an indication that the North has been ramping up its nuclear weapons program while talks with the United States remain stalled.
The report also suggested that North Korea had renewed efforts to extract plutonium from spent fuel removed earlier at the sprawling complex, in Yongbyon, north of Pyongyang, the capital.
Nuclear-disarmament talks between Washington and Pyongyang fizzled after the second summit meeting between the North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, and former President Donald J. Trump collapsed in 2019. The Biden administration has offered to renew talks “anywhere, anytime without preconditions,” but North Korea has not shown interest, and in recent weeks the United States has been focused on the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Historically, the North has increased activities at Yongbyon when it has sought to raise tensions and increase its diplomatic leverage.
Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/30/world/asia/north-korea-yongbyon-nuclear-plant.html
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