IAEA: North Korea nuclear program a 'serious concern'

Nov. 12 (UPI) -- North Korea's nuclear activities continue to be an issue of "serious concern" and the country must comply with obligations under United Nations Security Council resolutions, the International Atomic Energy Agency says.

The IAEA statement has drawn rebuke from the North Korean ambassador to the U.N.

IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi said Wednesday in a video message to the U.N. General Assembly that Pyongyang must suspend activities that violate international law.

"The Democratic People's Republic of Korea's nuclear activities remain a cause for serious concern," Grossi said. "The continuation of the country's nuclear program is a clear violation of relevant Security Council resolutions and is deeply regrettable," he said.

Grossi, an Argentine national who was tapped to succeed the late Yukiya Amano in 2019, also called on the Kim Jong Un regime to cooperate with the IAEA, which is ready to verify the status of the nuclear program and the "effective implementation of its [nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty] Agreement." North Korea joined the NPT in 1985, but said in 2003 it would no longer be bound by the treaty.

Grossi's comments come after analysts warned of continued nuclear development amid a lull in denuclearization talks. North Korea has rejected almost all meetings with the United States and South Korea, citing lack of sanctions relief. Researchers say North Korea may have as many as 60 nuclear bombs.

The IAEA chief said the agency, in the absence of access to the country, has been monitoring the North's nuclear program using open source information, including satellite imagery.

The European Union supported the IAEA statement, and also called on North Korea to take concrete steps toward a complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.

North Korea has issued a response condemning the IAEA. North Korean Ambassador Kim Song said in a two-and-a-half minute speech at the U.N. on Wednesday the IAEA is nothing more than a political tool of the West, Radio Free Asia reported.