US finds activity at North Korea N-site

SEOUL: Activity has been detected at North Korea's main nuclear site, suggesting Pyongyang may be reprocessing radioactive material into bomb fuel since the collapse of a summit with Washington, a US monitor said Wednesday.

The possible signs of fresh reprocessing activity last week come after a February summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ended abruptly without agreement on Pyongyang´s nuclear programme.

Since then North Korea has said it was mulling options for its diplomacy with the US and Kim said last week he was open to talks with Trump only if Washington came with the "proper attitude".

The Center for Strategic and International Studies said satellite imagery of the Yongbyon nuclear site on April 12 showed five railcars near its uranium enrichment facility and radiochemistry laboratory.

"In the past these specialized railcars appear to have been associated with the movement of radioactive material or reprocessing campaigns," the Washington-based monitor said.

"The current activity, along with their configurations, does not rule out their possible involvement in such activity, either before or after a reprocessing campaign."

Trump and Kim held their first landmark summit in Singapore last June, where the North Korean leader signed a vaguely-worded deal on the "denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula".

But their failure to reach agreement at their second summit in Hanoi on walking back Pyongyang's nuclear programme in exchange for relaxation of sanctions has raised questions over the future of the wider process.