United Nations Claims North Korea Is Still Developing Nuclear, Pentagon: We Keep An Eye On It!

JAKARTA - The United States Department of Defense (US) or the Pentagon, expressed concern regarding the UN report on the possible reprocessing of nuclear fuel for bombs by North Korea.

In a statement issued on Tuesday local time, the Pentagon said such activities could increase tensions between the United States and Pyongyang (North Korea).

Admiral Michael Studeman, a chief intelligence officer of the United States Indo-Pacific Command, said that North Korean activities highlighted this week by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) could be intended to get the attention of Joe Biden administration.

He considered that this was also used as a bargaining chip to get penalty relief. The United States government is currently reviewing US-North Korea policy.

“We are watching this! And it's very concerning where North Korea wants to go", Studeman said at a virtual event on technology and security.

In a statement to the IAEA Board of Governors on Monday, UN IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi referred to activities at North Korea's Yongbyon and Kangson nuclear facilities.

He said recently there were indications of the operation of a steam power plant serving a radiochemical laboratory. North Korea has used a radiochemical laboratory at Yongbyon to reprocess plutonium from reactors there to turn it into a nuclear bomb.

Grossi called North Korea's continued nuclear activity a clear violation of UN sanctions and deeply regretted it.

Referring to Grossi's statement, Studeman said, the IAEA board of governors issued a notice that there was evidence that Korea might reprocess nuclear fuel.

"If that's true, then it could put us at a different level of tension with Korea", he said.

“This may be the beginning of something designed to influence President Biden's government. This may be the first way to get the attention of the new government here, where perhaps (North Korea) will use this reprocessing development as a bargaining chip for some sort of sanctions relief", he said.

President Joe Biden's administration, which took office in January, is undertaking a full review of North Korean policy following former President Donald Trump's unprecedented engagement with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said an approach to North Korea could involve more sanctions or unspecified diplomatic incentives.

Separately, Jenny Town, deputy director of the Washington-based North Korea monitoring project 38 North told Reuters that satellite images received from Yongbyon from February 17 and March 2 showed steam escaping from a laboratory there, which had not been known to have been operating for about two years.

"This doesn't mean that reprocessing has started, but it could be an indication of preparations for it", he said.