North Korea pledged last spring to cease its nuclear activities. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, however, Pyongyang would continue its program in secret.
The North Korea continues its nuclear activities despite the intentions in the spring by its leader Kim Jong-un, deplores the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in a report released Tuesday.
“The continuation and development of the nuclear program of the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea is extremely worrying,” said the agency’s chief executive, Yukiya Amano, in this report to be submitted to the annual general meeting of the IAEA in September.
Experimental reactor
The UN agency, which is no longer present in North Korea since the expulsion of its inspectors in April 2009, notes in particular have indications on activities related to the North Korean ” radiochemical laboratory ” between late April and early May 2018 ” , after the inter-Korean summit in April.
It further notes that Yongbyon’s experimental reactor is continuing its “operational cycle” initiated in December 2015.
The IAEA also notes that Pyongyang is pursuing the construction of its light water reactor and the extraction and concentration of uranium at its Pyongsan site.
The confident US State Department
Deeming “deeply regrettable” these activities violating the resolutions of the UN Security Council, Yukiya Amano again calls on North Korea to “fully fulfill its international obligations” . He stated that the IAEA is ready to resume its on-site inspections very quickly.
Kim Jong-un reaffirmed on June 12 his commitment to a “complete denuclearization of the Korean nuclear activities” in an unprecedented meeting with US President Donald Trump.
He had already announced this intention on April 27, during a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, but these declarations of intent were not accompanied by any timetable or modalities, far from the “complete” denuclearization. , verifiable and irreversible ” required by the United States.