North Korea Threatens to Resume Nuclear Development

North Korea has reportedly threatened to resume its nuclear program if U.S.-led sanctions aren’t lifted. The Foreign Ministry’s Institute for American Studies released a statement late Friday demanding that the U.S. “stop the self-destructive act of putting pressure” on Pyongyang, warning that it could revise its policy on the nuclear program if sanctions continue, according to the Korean Central News Agency. The statement comes after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un complained recently that “vicious” sanctions are hindering the country’s development and resulting in “change and submission.” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to meet next week with with Kim Yong Chol, one of the North’s top officials and a former spy chief, to discuss a possible second summit between President Trump and Kim Jong Un. 38 North, a website that uses satellite imagery to monitor Pyongyang’s nuclear activities, warned earlier this week that the North is still engaged in uranium mining and milling operations at one of its biggest uranium ore concentrate facilities.