North Korea continues to enrich uranium that can be used in nuclear weapons, according to a new report by International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the Associated Press reports.
The report, issued Tuesday, looked at activity at North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear complex north of the capital, Pyongyang. The IAEA does not have inspectors on the ground in North Korea, so it relied on other observations collected from August 2019.
According to the report, the plant is not producing enough steam to transform spent nuclear fuel rods into plutonium, but there is sufficient steam to convert the rods into enriched uranium. The report also states that activity and vehicular movements “were consistent with the production of enriched uranium at the reported centrifuge enrichment facility.”
President Trump has touted his “love” with North Korea dictator Kim Jong-un as a foreign policy win which stopped North Korea from developing nuclear weapons. The IAEA report, however, undermines Trump’s claims that North Korea is no longer a threat.