38 North: North Korea

North Korea has been making rapid improvements to its nuclear research facility – despite Kim Jong-un’s pledge to denuclearize during his summit with President Donald Trump, a monitor said Wednesday.



The dictator promised to “work toward” the goal at the June 12 summit in Singapore, which produced a vaguely worded agreement that provided few details about the rogue regime’s commitment.



Trump — who declared on Twitter that there was “no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea” — claimed the process would start quickly, saying “it will be a total denuclearization, which is already taking place.”

Jenny Town, managing editor of 38 North, wrote on Twitter: “Infrastructure improvements continue at Yongbyon. Underscores reason why an actual deal is necessary, not just a statement of lofty goals.”





The Experimental Light Water Reactor (ELWR)

The four-story engineering office building at the ELWR is now externally complete, with a newly installed concrete driveway leading directly from the building’s entrance to the reactor’s main entrance. (Figure 3) The necessary infrastructure for reactor operations at the ELWR appears externally complete, but there is no visible evidence yet to suggest that operations have begun.

A new small building with a bluish roof has also been erected near the main construction support yard, where only a foundation was previously visible. The purpose of this small non-industrial type building is unknown, but the building appears similar to one that is also newly erected at the Radiochemical Laboratory.

The Kuryong River reservoir that provides cooling water for the Yongbyon reactors appears to be at its intended design levels, and the river seems to be flowing through the diversion sluiceway of the reservoir dam at capacity. It should also be noted that dredging of the riverbed continues upstream of the reactor area; downriver, other earth movements are ongoing.