North Korea’s main nuclear facility at the Yongbyon complex has resumed normal operations after it was shut down in 2007.

With this development it appears that North Korea is intensifying nuclear and ballistic missile development efforts in quality and quantity.

Yongbyon’s reactor was shut down in 2007 under a six-nation aid-for-disarmament accord. But the dictatorial Kim Jong Un regime vowed to restart it again in 2013, following its third nuclear test and amid high regional tensions.

The reactor at this nuclear facility has been the source of plutonium for North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme. If it is re-started, the reactor could potentially enrich plutonium to make one nuclear bomb per year.

Presently, North Korea is under United Nations economic sanctions for its strategic nuclear weapons programme and it was further tightened after its 2013 test.