North Korea has begun reassembling its Yongbyon reactor that can make material for atomic bombs in violation of US conditions for improved diplomatic relations, Fox News reported on Tuesday. Fox, quoting US officials, did not give details of the work nor did it cite a North Korean source, but said in its story on its website the North Koreans likely are protesting what it called a US delay in removing the country from its list of terrorist-sponsoring nations. North Korea said on Aug. 26 it would cease disabling its nuclear facilities and accused the United States of violating a disarmament deal. “They've been threatening this move for some time,” one US official told Fox, adding that until now the threats were seen as merely a way for North Korean officials “to express their anger.” Even now, piecing the facility back together is seen as a “symbolic gesture” because so much already has been taken apart, Fox reported. Another US official told Fox News that North Korea's reactor could be back in operation in two to three months. The United States said last week Pyongyang's move to stop taking the facility apart was a step backward and reiterated North Korea must disable its facilities before it is removed from the terrorism blacklist that restricts investment. “It is a violation of their commitments to the six-party framework. It certainly is in violation of the principle of action for action,” State Department spokesman Robert Wood told Reuters at the time. North Korea began disabling its plutonium-producing nuclear reactor and other facilities at its Yongbyon facility in November as a step toward their ultimate dismantlement in exchange for economic aid and political concessions, including removal from the U.S. terror list. Fox said the United States said in June that it would take North Korea off the terror list after Pyongyang turned in a long-delayed account of its nuclear programs and blew up the cooling tower at the reactor.
