Chosun Central News Agency (KCNA) stated today that North Korea has completed the reprocessing of its 8,000 spent fuel rods.

The KCNA noted, “It has been six months since the U.S. adopted a UN Security Council resolution due to Chosun (North Korea)’s peaceful satellite launch. During that time, Chosun has successfully completed the reprocessing of 8,000 spent fuel rods as part of the restoration of the Yongbyon nuclear facility.”

On April 14, North Korea released a statement saying that it would “reprocess clearly the used fuel rods from the Yongbyon nuclear facilty,” after the UN Security Council issued a president’s statement confirming the North’s launch of a long-range missile as a violation of UN Resolution 1718.

In early October, a South Korean official revealed the results of an investigation which suggested that North Korea had been restoring the nuclear facility at Yongbyon since earlier this year. The work seems to be currently approaching completion.