HOSTILE

N. Korea: Nuke Plant in ‘Full Operation’

Claims to restart operations at Nyongbyon nuclear site.

North Korea on Tuesday said it had restarted all of its main nuclear bomb fuel-production plants, just one day after threatening to launch long-range missiles. State media reported North Korea said its plutonium and highly enriched uranium facilities at the Nyongbyon complex had been “rearranged, changed, or readjusted and they started normal operation.” Pyongyang on Monday said it was ready to launch “satellites,” or long-range missiles considered banned by the West, to mark the ruling communist party’s 70th anniversary next month. South Korea’s defense ministry warned that firing long-range rockets would be a “serious” violation of UN resolutions, but said it had not detected any signs that Pyongyang was readying a launch. State-run news agency KCNA also reported Tuesday that North Korea said it was ready to face the U.S. with “nuclear weapons any time.”