IAEA chief calls for presidential-level reengagement with North Korea

by GABRIEL DOMINGUEZ
April 23, 2025

The head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog has warned that North Korea’s atomic program has grown “exponentially” since 2009, emphasizing the urgent need for presidential-level diplomacy to reengage with a country that has gone “completely off the charts” with its nuclear arsenal.

Speaking Tuesday at a Council on Foreign Relations event in Washington, Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Pyongyang’s program is no longer limited to the nuclear complex at Yongbyon but also involves the Kangson uranium enrichment plant as well as “a second and perhaps a third enrichment facility being built at the moment.”

“It's a reprocessing campaign, which is ongoing as we speak,” the IAEA chief said.