International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi said at a session of the agency’s Board of Governors in Vienna on Monday that there are indications that North Korea is continuing to enrich uranium at its Yongbyon nuclear site.
During his introductory statement, Grossi said the body has evidence that the five-megawatt reactor at North Korea’s nuclear facility is still in use and in fact expanding operations. “We have observed indications that the reported centrifuge enrichment facility at Yongbyon continues to operate and is now externally complete, expanding the building’s available floor space by approximately one-third,” he revealed.
Grossi noted that there also are “ongoing indications of activities” at the Kangson complex and the Pyongsan uranium mine and concentration plant. Furthermore, Tunnel Number Three at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site has been reopened and the site remains active and ready to facilitate a nuclear test. The director further said that very recently, the agency had also observed renewed construction work on the road leading to Tunnel Number Four.
In fact, back in March, United States (US)-based researchers said that commercial satellite imagery showed signs of new construction and repair work being carried out at Punggye-ri for the first time since the site was shut down in 2018. US spy satellites have since spotted new tunnels in areas where such tests have taken place in the past.
"#DPRK’s nuclear programme is a clear violation of relevant #UNSC resolutions. I call upon DPRK to comply fully w/ obligations under #UNSC resolutions, to cooperate promptly w/ IAEA in full & effective implementation of its NPT Safeguards Agreement," @RafaelMGrossi
— IAEA - International Atomic Energy Agency (@iaeaorg) September 12, 2022
In an annual report released last week, the United Nations (UN) watchdog said that “indications of reactor operation, including the discharge of cooling water, have continued.” In addition, it said that “a new building, possibly to support the fabrication or maintenance of reactor components, was externally completed in December 2021, and two further, adjacent buildings, have been under construction since March 2022.”
In a summary of its findings, the agency said that the North’s nuclear activities “continue to be a cause for serious concern.” It asserted that the nuclear test site’s reopening, as well as “the expansion of the reported centrifuge enrichment facility,” along with the “continued operation of the 5MW(e) reactor and other facilities,” was “deeply troubling.”
Kim Jong Un: #DPRK will never give up nuclear weapons @CGTNOfficial pic.twitter.com/rzK2RxJCZi
— Zhang Meifang张美芳 (@CGMeifangZhang) September 9, 2022
Grossi remarked that North Korea’s continuation of its nuclear programme was “a clear violation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions” and “deeply regrettable.” To this end, the report called on Pyongyang to “comply fully with its obligations” under UN Security Council resolutions and “cooperate promptly” with the IAEA in ensuring “the full and effective implementation of its NPT Safeguards Agreement.”
#IAEA Board meeting is beginning. Heavy and long agenda is before us.@FinEmbVienna @fyhr_kim pic.twitter.com/dsJXntZAbj
— Pirkko Hämäläinen (@pirkko_pirkko) September 12, 2022
The agency director’s comments come after North Korea passed a law on Friday that affirmes its right to use preemptive nuclear strikes to defend itself, with Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un declaring that the law makes the country’s nuclear status “irreversible.”
In a release expounding on the details of the law, state-owned news outlet Voice of Korea said that North Korea considers it its “basic mission to deter a war” by forcing “hostile forces” by making them understand that “military confrontation” with Pyongyang “will lead to their ruin” as well as “a decisive victory” for the North.
“The nuclear strike shall be made automatically and immediately to annihilate the hostile forces including the origin of provocation,” the release stated. Moreover, it revealed that North Korea will continue to “update and strengthen” both the quality and quantity of its nuclear arsenal to help “cope with” any change in “international nuclear arms posture.”
IAEA Director General @RafaelMGrossi delivered statement at Board of Governors meeting this morning. Remarks on nuclear safety and security in #Ukraine, #JCPOA and #Iran, #DPRK, and more.
— IAEA - International Atomic Energy Agency (@iaeaorg) September 12, 2022
📝 Full statement: https://t.co/DJk72JOgbM pic.twitter.com/sNXwrsKMGK
In this regard, Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un said during a parliamentary speech on Thursday that the law enshrined the country’s status as an “irreversible” nuclear weapons state. “The utmost significance of legislating nuclear weapons policy is to draw an irretrievable line so that there can be no bargaining over our nuclear weapons,” Kim reportedly said.
He stressed that Pyongyang will never abandon nuclear weapons, as it needs them to counter the United States (US), and that even another 100 years of sanctions would not bring the country to surrender the weapons. “Let them sanction us for 100 days, 1,000 days, 10 years or 100 years…We will never give up our rights to self-defense that preserves our country’s existence and the safety of our people just to temporarily ease the difficulties we are experiencing now,” Kim underscored.
North Korea has already launched over 30 missiles this year, including six Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs). The United States and South Korea have warned that the Kim Jong-un administration has already completed preparations to carry out a seventh nuclear test, the country’s first since 2017.