Pyongyang 'restoring nuke plant'

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has moved disassembled parts of its main nuclear reactor back to the plutonium-producing facility in a step toward its restoration, the Republic of Korea's (ROK) top diplomat said yesterday.

ROK Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan expressed concern over the DPRK's move and urged it to honor a disarmament pact. "It's not just words," Yu told reporters. "They're putting words into action. I urge North Korea (DPRK) to stop any unilateral move and resume" disarmament.

Yu said the DPRK has placed "severed or removed equipment back to around the five-megawatt atomic reactor", the country's sole operational reactor at the heart of its nuclear ambitions.