In a statement, it said the move would bolster² North Korea's nuclear forces "in quality and quantity".

 

The move is the latest in a series of measures by Pyongyang in the wake of its third nuclear test in February. 

 

It has been angered by the resultant UN sanctions and joint³ US-South Korea annual military drills.

 

In recent weeks the communist state has issued a series of threats against both South Korean and US targets, to which the US has responded with high-profile movements of advanced aircraft and warships⁴ around the Korean peninsula. 

 

A South Korean foreign ministry⁵ spokesman said that if true, the North Korean move would be "highly regrettable". 

 

 

The reactor at Yongbyon - which was the source for plutonium for North Korea's nuclear weapons programme - was closed in July 2007 as part of a disarmament（裁军）-for-aid deal.

 

The cooling tower at the facility was later destroyed, but then the disarmament deal stalled.

 

Part of the reason the agreement fell apart was because the US did not believe Pyongyang was fully⁶ disclosing all of its nuclear facilities - a suspicion later bolstered⁷ when North Korea unveiled a uranium enrichment facility at Yongbyon to US scientist Siegfried Hecker in 2010. 

 

While it appeared to be for electricity generation purposes, Mr Hecker said the facility could be readily converted to produce highly-enriched uranium for bombs. 

 

The statement, carried by KCNA news agency, was attributed to a spokesman for the General Department of Atomic Energy. 

 

The department had decided⁸ "to adjust and alter the uses of the existing nuclear facilities" including "readjusting and restarting all the nuclear facilities in Nyongbyon [Yongbyon] including uranium enrichment plant and 5MW graphite moderated reactor". 

 

The work would be put into practice without delay, the statement said. 

 

In a report following his visit to Yongbyon, Siegfried Hecker said based on what he saw he believed North Korea could "resume all plutonium operations within approximately six months" at Yongbyon if so inclined（倾向于）.

 

The reactor can produce spent fuel rods that can be made into plutonium - which experts believe North Korea used for its nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009. It is not clear whether plutonium or uranium was used in the February test.

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