North Korea is increasing its capability to make nuclear weapons, IAEA chief warns. nuclear weapons news

The head of the nuclear watchdog says that operations at North Korea’s Yongbyon reactor are increasing rapidly.

According to Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), North Korea is showing a “very serious increase” in its ability to produce nuclear weapons.

South Korea’s spy agency has said the diplomatically isolated country is believed to operate several facilities for uranium enrichment, a key step in making nuclear weapons. These include the Yongbyon nuclear site, which Pyongyang reportedly deactivated after negotiations but later reactivated in 2021.

“In our periodic assessment, we have been able to confirm that the operations of the Yongbyon reactor have increased rapidly,” Grossi told reporters in Seoul on Wednesday.

Grossi said the agency has also seen increased operations at Yongbyon’s reprocessing unit and light-water reactor, as well as the activation of other facilities.

“All this points to a very serious increase in the DPRK’s capabilities in the field of nuclear weapons production, which is estimated at up to a few dozen weapons,” he said, using North Korea’s official name.

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North Korea, which conducted its first nuclear test in 2006, is under United Nations sanctions for its banned weapons programs.

It has declared that it will never give up its nuclear weapons, and cut off access to IAEA inspectors in 2009.

The agency has looked at building “a new facility similar to the enrichment facility in Yeongbyon,” Grossi said.

It was “not easy to calculate” any production increase without visiting the site.

However, “we believe given the external characteristics of the facility that the DPRK’s enrichment capacity will be significantly enhanced”, he said.

Asked whether Russia was aiding North Korea’s nuclear development, Grossi said the IAEA had “not seen anything specifically in that regard”.

North Korea has sent ground troops and artillery shells to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and observers say Pyongyang is receiving military technology assistance from Moscow in return.