North Korea’s New Reactor at Nuclear Site Likely to Be Formally Operational Next Summer, Seoul Says 

South Korean Defense Minister Shin Wonsik speaks during a committee at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, on Nov. 23, 2023. (AP)
South Korean Defense Minister Shin Wonsik speaks during a committee at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, on Nov. 23, 2023. (AP)
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North Korea’s New Reactor at Nuclear Site Likely to Be Formally Operational Next Summer, Seoul Says 

South Korean Defense Minister Shin Wonsik speaks during a committee at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, on Nov. 23, 2023. (AP)
South Korean Defense Minister Shin Wonsik speaks during a committee at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, on Nov. 23, 2023. (AP)

A light-water reactor at North Korea’s main nuclear complex will likely be formally operational by next summer, South Korea’s defense minister said, amid suspicions that the North may use it as a new source of fissile materials for nuclear weapons.

Concerns about North Korea’s nuclear program deepened recently as the UN atomic agency and foreign experts said they’ve detected signs indicating that North Korea had begun operating its light-water reactor at the Yongbyon nuclear complex.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said last week that his agency had observed increased levels of activity at and near the reactor and since mid-October, a strong water outflow from its cooling system. He said the reactor is “a cause for concern” because it can produce plutonium — one of the two key ingredients used to manufacture nuclear weapons, along with highly enriched uranium.

The South Korean Defense Ministry said Friday that Defense Minister Shin Wonsik told local reporters a day before that his country had also spotted similar cooling system-related activities associated with the reactor last summer.

Shin said the reactor appears to be in the stage of a trial operation and that it's expected to be officially operational around next summer.

North Korea has long produced weapons-grade plutonium from its widely known 5-megawatt reactor at Yongbyon. The light-water reactor would be an additional source of bomb fuels, and observers say its bigger capacity could allow it to produce more plutonium. Yongbyon has a uranium enrichment facility as well.

There are questions about the reactor's reported operation, as light-water reactors are best-suited for electricity generation. Shin noted there has been no country that has used light-water reactors to produce weapons-grade plutonium. However, many observers say North Korea could adapt one at Yongbyon to produce weapons-grade plutonium.

“(North Korea)'s commissioning of a new light water nuclear power plant raises serious concerns, including safety,” the US Mission to the UN in Vienna said Saturday in a message posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “(North Korea's) unlawful nuclear & ballistic missile programs continue to pose a grave threat to international peace & security.”

Grossi also noted the North's operation of the light-water reactor violates UN Security Council resolutions.

The IAEA and foreign governments rely on satellite imagery and other methods to monitor activities at Yongyon and other suspected nuclear facilities in North Korea. The North kicked out IAEA inspectors from the country in 2009.

Outside estimates on the size of North Korea's nuclear arsenal vary, ranging from 20-60 to more than 100. Experts say North Korea can add six to 18 bombs each year. Since his diplomacy with the US collapsed in 2019, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has repeatedly vowed to build more nuclear weapons and introduce high-tech weapons to cope with what he calls intensifying US hostility.

Foreign experts say Kim would ultimately hope to use his expanded nuclear arsenal to win sanctions relief from the US when diplomacy resumes.

In response to the North's latest intercontinental ballistic missile test last week, the US, South Korea and Japan urged other countries to fully implement UN Security Council resolutions that have imposed punishing sanctions on the North for its past banned weapons tests.



Biden's Daunting Exit List: Gaza Ceasefire, Ukraine Aid, US Steel

President Joe Biden speaks during a Hanukkah reception in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP)
President Joe Biden speaks during a Hanukkah reception in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP)
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Biden's Daunting Exit List: Gaza Ceasefire, Ukraine Aid, US Steel

President Joe Biden speaks during a Hanukkah reception in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP)
President Joe Biden speaks during a Hanukkah reception in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP)

With a month left in the White House, US President Joe Biden has a long list of foreign and domestic policy actions he hopes to get done before president-elect Donald Trump assumes office, where the Republican is expected to try to reverse much of Biden's record.

Atop Biden's list are final, hurried pushes to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of American hostages abroad, distribute more aid to Ukraine, issue more pardons to non-violent criminals, forgive more student debt, release more funding for semiconductor chip production, and potentially block the sale of US Steel, according to White House aides and an internal memo seen by Reuters.

The list reflects how drawn-out and bloody wars in Europe and the Middle East on Biden's watch hijacked his legacy overseas, where he promised to restore and strengthen American leadership. Simultaneously, Democrats' election failures have shaken his legacy at home.

Biden, 82, promised to remake the US economy as president and clocked significant legislative wins in the first half of his four-year term, including the bipartisan infrastructure and inflation reduction bills.

But major lawmaking essentially ground to a halt after Republicans won the House in the 2022 midterm elections. Some Democrats blame Biden's refusal to step aside as candidate for their colossal defeats this November, most notably Vice President Kamala Harris' loss to Trump in every battleground state.

Securing a ceasefire deal in the war between Israel and Hamas that Palestinian authorities say has killed over 45,000 in Gaza, and bolstering Ukraine's defense in its nearly 3-year war with Russia are top priorities, White House officials say.

"This is not an uncommon thing for presidents at the end of their term or in the transition period if there are unresolved conflicts," said US presidential historian and Vanderbilt University professor Thomas Alan Schwartz.

A ceasefire deal in the 14-month war in Gaza could happen in the coming days, with the administration making a forceful diplomatic push this week. Similar hopeful discussions have flopped in the past, but the scope of this agreement is narrower.

Biden is also rushing weapons to Ukraine for fear that Trump, who often boasts of his close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, may be less likely to aid Ukraine's war effort.

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Biden's final domestic policy sprint will include distributing the remaining funds he secured through his landmark investment legislation, including high-speed internet funding to states, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters. In January, he is expected to announce a $2,000 prescription drug cost cap for Medicare recipients, and he will work with Congress to get federal judges confirmed until the last minute, the memo said.

The stage is all but set for Biden to block the sale of US Steel to an overseas buyer as soon as next week, something he has promised to do for nearly a year as he touts his mission to keep and expand manufacturing on US soil.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reviews deals for national security risks, has a Dec. 23 deadline to approve the deal, extend the review, or recommend Biden scuttle it.

On this issue, Biden and Trump agree: Trump said earlier this month that he would block the deal.

Other priorities involve policies or programs that Trump is likely to oppose, including efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change.

The Treasury Department is expected as soon as today to issue its highly contested final guidance for the Inflation Reduction Act's tax credit for hydrogen projects, and Biden officials are conferring with EU peers on locking in methane emissions before Trump takes office.

The Commerce Department is rapidly awarding its remaining funds to boost US semiconductor chip manufacturing, which were allocated by Biden's CHIPS and Science Act. Trump has criticized the program's price tag, casting its future in doubt.