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N. Korea makes rapid improvements to nuclear facilities: 38 North
By YonhapPublished : June 27, 2018 - 09:40
WASHINGTON -- North Korea has continued to make rapid improvements to its nuclear facilities in Yongbyon, although the action may have nothing to do with its recent pledge to denuclearize, a US website said Tuesday.
38 North, which monitors developments inside the reclusive regime, said the improvements to infrastructure are visible in commercial satellite imagery taken last Thursday.
The cooling system for Yongbyon's 5 MWe plutonium production reactor has undergone modifications, although it's unclear whether the reactor is in operation, the website said.
At the Radiochemical Laboratory, which is used to separate plutonium from spent fuel rods, "a small non-industrial building of an unknown purpose" has recently been erected.
Other construction activities are apparent throughout the nuclear complex, including at the Experimental Light Water Reactor, where a new engineering office building looks externally complete and an additional small building has been erected, 38 North said.
"Continued work at the Yongbyon facility should not be seen as having any relationship to North Korea's pledge to denuclearize," according to the article. "The North's nuclear cadre can be expected to proceed with business as usual until specific orders are issued from Pyongyang."
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un committed to the "complete denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula when he met with US President Donald Trump in Singapore on June 12.
Details of the agreement have yet to be fleshed out. (Yonhap)
