
North Korea Appears to Have Added to Its Nuclear Complex
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 of 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.
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6 Americans detained in South Korea for trying to send rice and Bibles to North Korea by sea
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Six Americans were detained Friday in South Korea for trying to send 1,600 plastic bottles filled with rice, miniature Bibles, $1 bills and USB sticks toward North Korea by sea, police said. The Americans were apprehended on front-line Gwanghwa Island before throwing the bottles into the sea so they could float toward North Korean shores on the tides, two Gwanghwa police officers said. They said the Americans are being investigated on allegations they violated the law on the management of safety and disasters. The officers, who requested anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to media on the issue, refused to provide personal details of the Americans in line with privacy rules. Gwanghwa police said they haven't found what is on the USB sticks. The U.S. Embassy in South Korea had no immediate public comment. For years, activists have sought to float plastic bottles or fly balloons across the border carrying anti-North Korea propaganda leaflets and USB thumb drives carrying South Korean dramas and K-pop songs, a practice that was banned from 2021-2023 over concerns it could inflame tensions with the North. North Korea has responded to previous balloon campaigns with fiery rhetoric and other shows of anger, and last year the country launched its own balloons across the border, dumping rubbish on various South Korean sites including the presidential compound. In 2023, South Korea's Constitutional Court struck down a controversial law that criminalized the sending of leaflets and other items to North Korea, calling it an excessive restriction on free speech. But since taking office in early June, the new liberal government of President Lee Jae Myung is pushing to crack down on such civilian campaigns with other safety-related laws to avoid a flare-up tensions with North Korea and promote the safety of frontline South Korean residents. On June 14, police detained an activist for allegedly flying balloons toward North Korea from Gwanghwa Island. Lee took office with a promise to restart long-dormant talks with North Korea and establish peace on the Korean Peninsula. Lee's government halted frontline anti-Pyongyang propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts to try to ease military tensions. North Korean broadcasts have not been heard in South Korean front-line towns since then. But it's unclear if North Korea will respond to Lee's conciliatory gesture after vowing last year to sever relations with South Korea and abandon the goal of peaceful Korean reunification. Official talks between the Koreas have been stalled since 2019, when U.S.-led diplomacy on North Korean denuclearization derailed.
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2 hours ago
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Iran cuts off cooperation with nuclear watchdog
Iran's leaders said Friday they would no longer cooperate with the United Nations's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in the wake of U.S. and Israeli strikes. 'The Parliament of Iran has voted for a halt to collaboration with the IAEA until the safety and security of our nuclear activities can be guaranteed,' Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote in a post on social platform X. 'This is a direct result of @rafaelmgrossi's regrettable role in obfuscating the fact that the Agency—a full decade ago—already closed all past issues,' Araghchi added, referring to IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi. Araghchi also slammed Grossi for not condemning Israeli attacks after accusing the watchdog of passing information about the nation's nuclear developments to leaders in Jerusalem. 'The IAEA and its Director-General are fully responsible for this sordid state of affairs. @rafaelmgrossi's insistence on visiting the bombed sites under the pretext of safeguards is meaningless and possibly even malign in intent,' Araghchi wrote. 'Iran reserves the right to take any steps in defense of its interests, its people, and its sovereignty,' he added. The IAEA earlier this week said Iran's nuclear facilities 'suffered enormous damage' from the U.S. airstrikes Saturday but refrained from using the term 'annihilated' to describe the destruction. The remarks came after leaders in Russia urged Tehran to continue cooperating with the independent agency. 'We are interested in Iran's cooperation with the IAEA continuing,' Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday, according to Reuters. 'We are interested in everyone respecting the supreme leader of Iran, who has repeatedly stated that Iran does not and will not have plans to create nuclear weapons.' Additionally, Araghchi on Thursday denied reports alleging Tehran would resume peace talks with the United States. 'Some speculations about the resumption of negotiations should not be taken seriously,' Araghchi said in remarks aired on state television. 'I would like to state clearly that no agreement, arrangement or conversation has been made to start new negotiations. No plan has been set yet to start negotiations.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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2 hours ago
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Trump says he'd consider bombing Iran again if concerns grow
President Trump said Friday he'd consider bombing Iran again if the U.S. gathers intelligence that raises concerns about the country's uranium enrichment capabilities. 'Sure, without question, absolutely,' Trump said, when asked during a press briefing if a second wave of bombings was possible. Trump said later he was 'not really' worried about secret nuclear sites in Iran. 'They're exhausted,' he said of Iran's leaders. 'The last thing they're thinking about is nuclear weapons right now.' The Trump administration has insisted this week that Iran's nuclear program was completely destroyed by U.S. bombings and missile strikes on Saturday. Democrats have been unconvinced by House and Senate intelligence briefings this week. Iran cuts off cooperation with nuclear watchdog There's little dispute that the strikes did major damage to Iran's nuclear facilities, but there are conflicting assessments over just how far the country's broader nuclear program was set back. An initial Pentagon assessment said the attacks set Iran's nuclear program back by months, not years; however, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has pushed back hard on those findings. It's also unclear whether Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium remained in the targeted facilities, with some reports suggesting it was moved elsewhere before the U.S. attacks. Lawmakers have raised concerns that if the strikes did not drastically push back Iran's nuclear timeline, there may be a case for striking again. 'We've got the president saying one thing … and based on the [Pentagon's] DIA [Defense Intelligence Agency] analysis, it's different,' Rep. Bennie Thompson (Miss.), the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, said Wednesday. 'His approach, potentially, could get us in trouble. If we don't up our diplomacy game, then all bets are off,' he added. 'The worst thing we need is a broader conflict.' Trump brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Iran that took effect within days of the U.S. bombing. It got off to a shaky start but has held through the week. Democrats remained skeptical of Trump's claims the U.S. 'obliterated' Iran's nuclear program following briefings with Trump officials Thursday and Friday. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said there are 'just too many unknowns' to determine whether Iran would 'make a dash for the bomb' in the near future. 'Do they now want to be more like North Korea and be a nuclear state than a nuclear threshold state? We don't know and it will take time before we do know,' he told ABC News. Trump said earlier this week that a nuclear deal with Iran was not 'necessary' after the strikes, but he has not closed the door to diplomacy. The president said U.S. and Iranian officials would meet next week. The White House said Thursday that no meeting has been scheduled. Trump released a statement on Truth Social shortly after the press conference, criticizing Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, for claiming Iran won the war with Israel. Trump said Khamenei should be thankful Israel halted its attacks. 'Iran has to get back into the World Order flow, or things will only get worse for them,' Trump wrote. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.