North Korea appears to have restarted its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, the UN atomic agency has said in a report.
The reactor is believed to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was expelled by Pyongyang in 2009 and relies on satellite imagery to carry out its assessments.
Its latest report said there were indications of activity “consistent with the operation of the reactor” since early July.
It added that this was the first sign of activity at the reactor since December 2018, months after US President Donald Trump met Kim Jong-un in Singapore.
Yongbyon has long been monitored from afar by experts trying to get an idea of how many weapons the regime is capable of producing.
The IAEA warned that the latest activity indicated work to separate plutonium from spent reactor fuel that could be used in nuclear weapons.
It said the development was “deeply troubling” and a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions. -BBC
