North Korea’s new nuclear reactor likely operational next summer, Seoul says

South Korean Defence Minister Shin Wonsik speaking during a committee at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, in November (Han Jong-chan/Yonhap via AP)

A light-water reactor at North Korea’s main nuclear complex will likely be formally operational by next summer, South Korea’s defence 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 programme deepened recently as the UN atomic agency (IAEA) and foreign experts said they have detected signs indicating that North Korea had begun operating its light-water reactor at the Yongbyon nuclear complex.