North Korea resumes plutonium production

The agency running Yongbyon was quoted by Japan's Kyodo News Agency as saying nuclear tests would continue as long as the US posed a threat, BBC reports.

The North restarted Yongbyon in June, UN inspectors confirmed.

The country has conducted four nuclear weapons tests and several missile tests breaching international sanctions.

The Atomic Energy Institute, which controls Yongbyon, said in a written interview with Kyodo: "We have reprocessed spent nuclear fuel rods removed from a graphite-moderated reactor".

The institute also told Kyodo that North Korea was producing highly enriched uranium, an essential component in nuclear power and weapons. The amount of plutonium and enriched uranium in North Korea is unknown.

"Under conditions that the United States constantly threatens us with nuclear weapons, we will not discontinue nuclear tests," the institute said.