US Threatens North Korea Following Reopening of Nuclear Plant

John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, reacted on Tuesday to the news of the reopening of a nuclear power plant in North Korea, stating that the United States and China will certainly enforce existing sanctions against the country. According to Reuters, Mr. Kerry, who is in Beijing for talks with Chinese officials, deemed the comprehensive implementation of sanctions against North Korea by the US as inevitable. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced on Monday that North Korea has likely reopened a nuclear facility for the production of plutonium needed for nuclear weapons fuel. The agency speculates that North Korea has decided to expand its efforts in nuclear weapons production. The mentioned facility is expected to use spent fuel from the main reactor to produce plutonium. Yukiya Amano, the IAEA Director General, stated in a meeting of the agency's Board of Governors that there are signs indicating the reopening of this facility. Activities related to a five-megawatt reactor, the expansion of centrifuge-related facilities, enrichment, and plutonium processing are signs that Mr. Amano has provided for the restart of this plant. However, since the IAEA cannot send inspectors to North Korean facilities, it only monitors the country's nuclear activities via satellite. For this reason, Mr. Amano added that there is no way to ensure complete certainty regarding the operation of this facility. Mr. Amano noted that satellite imagery has shown vehicle traffic, warm water discharge, steam, and material transport near the facility, known as Yongbyon. Less than ten years ago, North Korea shut down the Yongbyon nuclear research center following an agreement. However, since 2013 and after conducting its third nuclear test, it began to renovate it. In winter, James Clapper, the US National Intelligence Director, warned that North Korea could resume plutonium production from reactor fuel within weeks to months. Plutonium suitable for bomb-making is usually plutonium derived from reactor fuel. A Korean-American research institute based at Johns Hopkins University also referenced the reopening of this facility last week, stating that it reached such a conclusion based on satellite images. IAEA inspectors were last in North Korea in 2009, after which their permission to be present in the country was revoked. Currently, North Korea is subject to extensive sanctions from the US, Europe, China, and its southern neighbor.