2024-03-06 11:00:17
The U.S. government has once again confirmed that North Korea is ready to conduct its seventh nuclear test at any time. He urged North Korea to refrain from making nuclear threats, saying that its seventh nuclear test would seriously threaten international security. Reporter Cho Sang-jin reports.
The State Department said, “The United States assesses that North Korea has been preparing for its seventh nuclear test at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site and is only waiting for a political decision.”
[국무부 대변인] “The United States assesses that the DPRK has prepared its Punggye-ri test site for a potential seventh nuclear test, awaiting only a political decision to do so. This assessment is consistent with the DPRK’s own public statements, including Kim Jong Un’s call to “exponentially” increase the DPRK’s nuclear arsenal in 2023.”
On the 5th, a State Department spokesperson responded to VOA’s request for comment on International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi’s recent remarks regarding North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear facility and Punggye-ri nuclear test site.
“This assessment is consistent with North Korea’s public statements, including Kim Jong-un’s statement last year that North Korea would ‘exponentially’ increase its nuclear weapons,” he said.
Earlier, in his opening speech at the IAEA Board of Directors meeting held in Vienna, Austria on the 4th, Secretary-General Grossi said, “IAEA observed hot water being discharged from the cooling system of Yongbyon’s light water reactor.”
He added, “These observation results are consistent with the test run in which nuclear fuel was blacked out for the first time in the reactor and the output was increased while conducting various tests.”
He also said, “Since October of last year, signs of operation of the 5-megawatt nuclear reactor have continued, and signs of operation of the centrifuge enrichment facility and its auxiliary facilities have continued.”
In addition, he pointed out that “the Punggye-ri nuclear test site is still in use and is ready to support new nuclear tests,” adding, “A new nuclear test would violate UN Security Council resolutions and be a cause for serious concern.”
The entrance to the tunnel at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site that North Korea revealed in May 2018.
The State Department also expressed strong concern about North Korea’s seventh nuclear test and urged restraint in nuclear threats.
[국무부 대변인] “A seventh nuclear test, which would be the first since 2017, would constitute a grave escalation and seriously threaten regional and international stability and security. It would also undermine the global non-proliferation regime and blatantly violate international law, as set out in multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions. We urge the DPRK to refrain from further threatening nuclear activity and call on it to engage in serious and sustained diplomacy.”
A State Department spokesperson said, “(North Korea’s) seventh nuclear test, which will be the first since 2017, represents a serious escalation of tensions and will seriously threaten regional and international stability and security.”
He also said, “This would be an act that undermines the international non-proliferation regime and blatantly violates international law enshrined in multiple UN Security Council resolutions.”
“We urge North Korea to refrain from further threatening nuclear activities and engage in serious and continuous diplomacy,” he said.
The Canadian government also criticized North Korea’s continued nuclear threat.
[캐나다 외무부 대변인] “Canada strongly condemns North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, which pose a direct threat to international and regional peace and security. Canada supports the International Atomic Energy Agency’s North Korea team in their committed efforts to provide technical and impartial assessments regarding North Korea’s nuclear activities. We will continue working side-by-side with our partners to press for North Korea’s denuclearization and compliance with relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions.”
In response to VOA’s request for comment on the 5th, Canadian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marilyn Gebremont said, “Canada strongly condemns North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, which pose a direct threat to international and regional peace and security.”
He added, “Canada supports the dedicated efforts of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) North Korea team to provide a technical and fair assessment of North Korea’s nuclear activities.”
He emphasized, “We will continue to work with our partners to pressure North Korea to denuclearize and comply with related UN Security Council resolutions.”
International nuclear experts have assessed that North Korea’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site is ready to conduct its seventh nuclear test at any time.
David Albright, director of the U.S. Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), said in a phone call with VOA on the 4th, “North Korea maintains a nuclear test site and is ready to conduct tests,” and suggested that the seventh nuclear test may be postponed for political or some technical reasons. Diagnosed as possible.
[녹취: 올브라이트 소장] “They’re keeping it and ready to do a test. But we don’t know why they’re not testing. We really don’t know. Is it political? Is it a technical problem?”
David Schmerler, a senior researcher at the Non-Proliferation Center at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and an American nuclear expert, also told VOA on the 4th, “Punggye-ri has been in this state since the past,” adding, “This means that North Korea can conduct a nuclear test if it wants.”
[슈멀러 연구원] “Punggye-ri has been in this status for a while now. It doesnt meaning that they are preparing for a nuclear test but that they could conduct a test should they choose to.”
Oli Heinonen, a special fellow at the Stimson Center and former deputy secretary-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), noted the operation of the new light-water reactor at the Yongbyon nuclear facility and said, “This is an important step in building North Korea’s additional nuclear capabilities.”
[하이노넨 전 사무차장] “First discharge of irradiated fuel will likely take place in 2025, and substantial amounts of newly separate plutonium will be available earliest by the end of the year. But there are also some additional construction activities taking place in Yongbyon. They will likely enhance nuclear capabilities further.”
At the same time, he observed that a significant amount of newly separated plutonium will be available for use around the end of 2025 when fuel is discharged from the light-water reactor, adding, “This is likely to further strengthen North Korea’s nuclear capabilities.”
This is Cho Sang-jin of VOA News.
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