North Korea has restarted its nuclear reactor at the controversial Yongbyon nuclear facility.

This emerges from a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

"Since the beginning of July 2021, there have been signs, including drainage of cooling water, consistent with the operation of the reactor," the report said.

The radiochemical laboratory is also said to have been used for five months from mid-February to early July.

This corresponds to the time it takes the North Korean plant to reprocess nuclear fuel, the IAEA says in its report.

In this process, plutonium is obtained, which can be used to equip nuclear weapons.

"North Korea's nuclear activities continue to give cause for serious concern," the IAEA sums up.  

Anna Schiller

Volunteer.

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North Korea has been denying the IAEA access to its nuclear complex for several years.

The last time IAEA representatives could enter the facility was in 2009.

The organization mainly uses satellite imagery and other publicly available data to monitor North Korean activities.

American research institutes had already pointed out activities in the nuclear complex since the beginning of the year.

"New reprocessing campaign"

The Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies announced on its Beyond Parallel blog in May that infrared images of the facility indicated that the radiochemical laboratory and centrifuge had been restarted. The think tank concluded that the activity was an indicator "of a new reprocessing campaign aimed at expanding North Korea's inventory of fissile material for nuclear weapons." The regime wanted to put pressure on the American government.      

With a view to the denuclearization of North Korea, the American government under President Joe Biden has so far pursued a middle course between the approaches of Donald Trump and Barack Obama.

Under the latter, the United States wanted to stop North Korea's nuclear program primarily with sanctions.

Trump, on the other hand, had negotiated directly with the North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un.

In the talks, Kim Trump is said to have offered to demolish the reactor, which has now been commissioned again.

However, after Trump and Kim failed to reach an agreement at a summit meeting in Hanoi in February 2019, talks about possible disarmament are on hold.

But no thaw phase?

Last week, the American special envoy for North Korea, Sung Kim, traveled to Seoul for talks. In an interview with the Korean television broadcaster KBS, he said that he was available “anytime, anywhere” to speak to the North Korean side. The American government has not yet reacted to the findings that are now officially available.  

At the end of July, after a break of around a year, North Korea started responding to calls via inter-Korean communication lines. The move had raised hopes on the South Korean side of another thaw phase between the two Korean states. As a result of the annual exercises of the American and South Korean armies, however, the North Korean side no longer responded to contacts from the south.

A spokeswoman for the South Korean reunification ministry told the daily Donga Ilbo that the activities of North Korea at the Yongbyon nuclear facility are being closely monitored with the United States. One continues to strive for the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, the establishment of peace and the development of inter-Korean relations. The North Korean side also left calls unanswered on Monday morning, the spokeswoman said.