VIENNA — The UN’s nuclear watchdog on Wednesday said North
Korea’s atomic activities were “a cause for serious concern”.
The
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) called
the continuation of North Korea’s nuclear program “deeply regrettable” in a
report, saying it was “a clear violation of relevant UN Security Council
resolutions”.
اضافة اعلان
“The DPRK’s nuclear activities continue to be a
cause for serious concern,” the Vienna-based agency said, referring to North
Korea’s official name.
At North Korea’s main nuclear complex — Yongbyon —
construction began in September last year on a new annex and it is now
“externally complete”, the agency said, adding it could not determine its
purpose.
And at a nuclear test site at Punggye-ri, work took
place including the reopening of a test tunnel as well as road construction
that resumed late last month, the IAEA said in the annual report.
“The reopening of the nuclear test site is deeply
troubling, as is the expansion (at Yongbyon) of the reported centrifuge
enrichment facility and the continued operation of the 5MW(e) reactor and other
facilities,” it said.
The report, to be considered by the IAEA General
Conference later this month, covers the year until this August.
It incorporates all “relevant information available”
to the agency, the IAEA said.
IAEA inspectors were kicked out of
North Korea in
2009, and the agency has since monitored it from outside, including through
commercial satellite imagery.
In past reports, the IAEA has equally expressed its
serious concerns.
North Korea has conducted a record-breaking blitz of
weapons tests this year, including firing an intercontinental ballistic missile
at full range for the first time since 2017.
Washington and
South Korean officials have
repeatedly warned that the North is preparing to carry out what would be its
seventh nuclear test.
In August, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim
Jong-un rejected Seoul’s offer of economic assistance in return for
denuclearization steps.
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