North Korea Says Biggest Nuclear Complex Is On

In its state media, North Korea stated on Tuesday that the plutonium and uranium facilities at its main nuclear complex have been “rearranged, changed or readjusted”, according to ABC News.

In 2009, North Korea walked out of six-nation talks aimed at persuading the North to give up its nuclear program in exchange for aid and security guarantees.

“There will be severe consequences as we go forward if North Korea does not refrain from its irresponsible provocations that aggravate regional concerns, make the region less safe, and if it refuses to live up to its international obligations”, Kerry said.

The reactor is capable of producing around six kilos (13 pounds) of plutonium a year when fully operational.

The Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center is located 90 kilometers north of Pyongyang.

South Korea was quick to respond Tuesday to North Korea’s threats that it would use nuclear weapons on hostile foes and that the country planned to continue to work toward building its arsenal. It also demanded that the North “abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner; immediately cease all related activities; and not conduct any further launches that use ballistic missile technology, nuclear tests or any further provocations”.

“The world will clearly see a series of satellites… soaring into the sky at the times and locations determined by the WPK central committee”, the director of the North’s National Aerospace Development Administration said late Monday. By December, the North has kicked out inspectors from the international Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as Pyongyang says Yongbyon’s facilities are being reactivated.

The threats constituted a return to the belligerent rhetoric often employed by North Korea in an effort to obtain political concessions from South Korea and the United States, two of its main foes.

After hint at a possible nuclear test, eyes on nuclear facility that was restored to operating order after dismantlement With North Korea hinting on Sep.

“Should North Korea push ahead with the so-called satellite launch, it will bring about additional measures by the Security Council and would be putting itself in deeper isolation”, Mr Hwang Joon Kook, who is currently visiting Washington, told South Korean reporters.

South Korea recently reached a breakthrough with the North after border tensions in August threatened to escalate into a bigger clash.

On July 5, 2006, the North fired the Taepodong-2 missile, an intercontinental ballistic missile, only to face a United Nations Security Council resolution on July 16, 2006.

He expects the Chinese to impose some punishment or added sanctions on the North if it conducts a missile or nuclear test but not to cripple the regime.

North Korea’s latest announcements also raise doubts about recent signs of easing animosities between the rival Koreas, which agreed to hold reunions next month of families separated by the Korean War.

North Korea and South Korea are technically at war, because the 1950-53 conflict ended with a cease fire, rather than a peace accord.