North Korea rejected defense deal between US, UK and Australia

Korea of North warned this Monday that a new American alliance in the Indo-Pacific and a recent contract for the sale of submarines to Australia they could spark a “nuclear arms race” in the region.

The United States last week announced a security pact with Australia and UK, as part of “These are extremely unwanted and dangerous acts which will affect the strategic balance in the Asia-Pacific region and trigger a nuclear arms race,” he added. the North Korean state news agency said KCNA, citing a position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“This shows that The United States is the main culprit in the collapse of the international nuclear non-proliferation systemSaid a head of the international news section of the press and information department of the ministry.

Last Wednesday, Korea of North launched two missiles, while Korea of the South tested a ballistic missile launched from a submarine a few hours later, making it the seventh country in the world with this technology.

Spotlight on Pacific missile tests and defense deals a regional race that intensifies as the rivalry between China and the United States.

“It is natural that neighboring countries, including China, condemn these actions as irresponsible and destructive of peace and stability in the region.», Added the North Korean official on the American agreement.

Washington’s alliance with the UK and Australia has been seen internationally as a form of thwart the rise of China.

The american president Joe Biden marked a change in the tone of his relationship with Korea of North since his predecessor, Donald Trump, who attempted an extraordinary diplomatic rapprochement with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The North Korean official added that his country “It will certainly take corresponding measures to counteract in case there is even a small negative impact on the security” of the country.

North Korean regime reactivated nuclear facilities

North Korea put its nuclear reactor back into service this year and its atomic fuel reprocessing facilities, according to a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which qualifies these activities as “deeply worrying”.

According to the document, released today, since the beginning of July “there have been indications, including the release of cooling water, compatible with the operation of the experimental reactor” of 5 megawatts of electricity at the Yongbyon Nuclear Research Center, about 100 kilometers from the north of Pyonyang.

North Korea obtains fuel for nuclear devices it has tested to date from Yongbyon facility, to which the UN nuclear body does not have access.

The IAEA emphasizes that between December 2018, when Pyongyang was preparing to open diplomatic negotiations with Washington, and the beginning of last July there was no indication that the fission unit had been commissioned.

The report, based on analysis of satellite images and other information, adds that the Yongbyon Radiochemical Laboratory steam plant -in charge of reprocessing the fuel used in the reactor to obtain plutonium for atomic bombs- It was operational from mid-February of this year to early July.

The IAEA considers that the activities of the North Korean nuclear program “are very worrying” and recalls that they constitute a “manifest violation” of UN Security Council resolutions. against Pyonyang for its development of weapons of mass destruction.

(With information from AFP)

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