North Korea appears to have constructed a new building within its main nuclear complex, satellite imagery showed, in what could be an additional enrichment facility to ramp up the country’s ability to produce nuclear weapons. The new structure at Yongbyon, some 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of Pyongyang, resembles an enrichment facility at Kangson, another North Korean nuclear site near the capital, the satellite image analyzed by weapons expert Jeffrey Lewis showed. Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in a report to the board of governors this week that the nuclear watchdog is monitoring the construction of a new building at Yongbyon “which has dimensions and features similar to the Kangson enrichment plant.” “The dimensions and features, in our opinion, are enough to justify the IAEA drawing attention to the facility as a possible enrichment plant,” Lewis and Sam Lair wrote on the Arms Control Wonk website. The revelation comes just days after South Korea’s new President Lee Jae-myung took office, pledging to restart stalled dialogue with Pyongyang. It’s unclear whether North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will engage, as he has drawn closer to Russian President Vladimir Putin since they struck a military pact a year ago.

Full report : North Korea Appears to Have Added to Its Yongbyon Nuclear Complex.