Washington, Apr. 2 (ANI): North Korea has announced plans to restart a reactor at its main nuclear complex that it had agreed to shut down more than five years ago, escalating already heightened tensions with the US and South Korea.
The declaration demonstrates Kim Jong Un's commitment to the country's nuclear weapons programme that the international community has persistently, but unsuccessfully tried to get it to abandon.
According to CNN, the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that the reclusive state's atomic energy department intended to 'readjust and restart all the nuclear facilities' at the Yongbyon nuclear complex.
Those facilities include a uranium enrichment facility and a reactor that was 'mothballed and disabled' under an agreement reached during talks between North Korea, the United States and four other nations in October 2007, KCNA said.
China, a key North Korean ally, expressed regret over Pyongyang's announcement about the reactor.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hong Lei said at a regular news briefing that the country has consistently advocated denuclearization on the peninsula and maintaining peace and stability in the region.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, meanwhile, said the move would need to be dealt with in a serious manner, noting that it breached the North's previous commitments.
According to the report, North Korea's latest declaration comes after it has delivered a steady stream of verbal attacks against South Korea and the United States in recent weeks, including the threat of a nuclear strike, the report added. (ANI)
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