By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 01:28 EST, 2 April 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 07:01 EST, 2 April 2013 . North Korea today announced that it would kick-start its nuclear programme once again by re-opening a complex which was closed as part of disarmament talks six years ago. The secretive dictatorship said it would re-start the mothballed facilities at the Yongbyon nuclear facility, which it insists is meant to generate electricity, but which is capable of making a bomb. If North Korea succeeds in making more nuclear weapons, its ongoing war of words with the South and the U.S. will take on worrying new dimensions. Moving: A F-16 fighter jet comes in for a landing as A-10 jets move to take off at a U.S. air force base in Osan, south of Seoul today . North Korea today announced that it would kick-start its nuclear programme once again by re-opening a complex which was closed as part of disarmament talks six years ago. A file handout satellite image shows the Yongbyon complex nuclear facility . Target practice: North Korea has released video footage of soldier firing at cartoon-lie targets of U.S. soldiers . A spokesman for the General Department of Atomic Energy said that the facilities to be restarted are a graphite-moderated five-megawatt reactor, which generates spent fuel rods laced with plutonium and is the core of the Yongbyon nuclear complex. The reactor is capable of churning out one atomic bomb worth of plutonium - the most common fuel in nuclear weapons - each year. The move will boost fears in Washington and among its allies about North Korea's push for nuclear-tipped missiles that can reach the United States, which it cannot currently do. Threat: Kim Jong Un, pictured centre at a meeting of North Korea's parliament today, has vowed to re-open the country's nuclear facilities . Performance: The State Merited Chorus of North Korea singing for delegates . December 2011: Kim Jong-il died and his son Kim Jong-un was named his successor. April 2012:To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, in April 2012, Pyongyang launched a long-range ballistic rocket which fell into the sea. August 2012, ahead of the annual US-South Korean drills, Kim Jong-un announced that the North Korean army was ready to deal 'deadly blows . December 12 : North Korea successfully launched a rocket on Wednesday, boosting the credentials of its new leader and stepping up the threat the isolated and impoverished state poses to opponents. The rocket, which North Korea says put a weather satellite into orbit, has been labeled by the United States, South Korea and Japan as a test of technology that could one day deliver a nuclear warhead. January 2013: North Korea announced it was planning a new nuclear test, raising the confrontation with the US to a whole new level. February 12: North Korea conducted its third nuclear test and warned that further measures would follow if the US continued its “hostility” against the North. The UN subsequently imposed more sanctions on the county. March 29:  Following a mock bombing of North Korea by a US B-2 stealth bomber during a joint military drills, Pyongyang ordered rocket units be put on standby to fire on US bases in the South Pacific. March 30, North Korea declared it was entering a 'state of war' against its Southern neighbour. Yesterday footage was released showing . soldiers in the secretive country practice shooting at mocked up . Americans and South Koreans in a video released by state media. The U.N. chief says he fears North Korea is on a collision course with other nations that could lead to war. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says the isolated Asian nation appears to be 'on a collision course with the international community' amid rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, said today in Andorra 'the current crisis has already gone too far' because of escalating tensions raised by North Korea's threats of war almost daily against the United States and South Korea. He said international negotiations are urgently needed but he is 'convinced that no one intends to attack' North Korea. Pyongyang has sought disarmament-for-aid talks with Washington and more domestic loyalty by portraying North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a powerful commander. Pyongyang conducted its third nuclear test in February, prompting UN sanctions that have infuriated its leaders and led to the current tensions. The government has since declared that making nuclear arms and strengthening the economy are the nation's top priorities. According to estimates from the . Institute for Science and International Security from late 2012, North . could have enough weapons grade uranium for 21-32 nuclear weapons by . 2016 if it used one centrifuge at its Yongbyon nuclear plant to enrich . uranium to weapons-grade. 'The General Department of Atomic . Energy...decided to adjust and alter the uses of the existing nuclear . facilities, to begin with,' KCNA reported. It said the nuclear facilities would be used for both electricity and military uses. It was not clear how long it would . take to restart the reactor, whose cooling tower was blown up in a . made-for-TV event in 2008 under an agreement to suspend the atomic . complex. There have been reports of . construction work near where the tower once stood but it was not clear . whether the North was rebuilding it. North Korea added the five-megawatt, . graphite-moderated reactor to its nuclear complex in 1986 after seven . years of construction. The . country began building a 50-megawatt and a 200-megawatt reactor in . 1984, but their construction was suspended under a 1994 nuclear deal . with Washington. North . Korea has long said that the reactor operation is aimed at generating . electricity. It takes about 8,000 fuel rods to run the reactor. Warning sign: North Korea's December 12 rocket launch shows the country has likely developed the technology to fire a missile that could reach the U.S. West Coast . Reprocessing the spent fuel rods after a year of reactor operation could yield about 7kg of plutonium - enough to make at least one nuclear bomb. South Korea's new president yesterday told her troops to strike the North if it appeared likely to attack. 'If there is any provocation against South Korea and its people, there should be a strong response in initial combat without any political considerations,' Park Geun-hye told the defence minister and senior officials. War game: A South Korean tank mobilises during a military drill aimed at the North . Rules: The South has changed its rules of engagement to allow local units to respond immediately to attacks, rather than waiting for permission from Seoul . Exercise: South Korean marine's K-55 self-propelled howitzer fires during a military exercise in the border city between two Koreas, Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea . The South has changed its rules of engagement to allow local units to respond immediately to attacks, rather than waiting for permission from Seoul. Stung by criticism that its response to the shelling of a South Korean island in 2010 was tardy and weak, Seoul has also threatened to target North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and to destroy statues of the ruling Kim dynasty in the event of any new attack, a plan that has outraged Pyongyang. Park's intervention came on the heels of a meeting of the North's ruling Workers Party Central Committee where Kim rejected the notion that Pyongyang was going to use its nuclear arms development as a bargaining chip. Guard: An armed South Korean soldier manning at the barricaded border defence line as the Imjin River North Korea is seen in background near the sensitive Demilitarized Zone in Paju district, South Korea . Border: South Korean trucks arrive from North Korea's Kaesong Industrial Complex at the inter-Korean transit office in Paju . On patrol: A South Korean soldier patrolling at the highway entrance . 'The nuclear weapons of Songun Korea are not goods for getting U.S. dollars,' KCNA news agency quoted him as saying. In Washington, the White House has said the United States takes North Korea's war threats seriously. But White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Monday: 'I would note that despite the harsh rhetoric we are hearing from Pyongyang, we are not seeing changes to the North Korean military posture, such as large-scale mobilisations and positioning of forces.' A U.S. defence official said on Monday the USS McCain, an Aegis-class guided-missile destroyer used for ballistic missile defense, was positioned off the peninsula's southwestern coast. It was not immediately clear where the ship was today.
Yongbyon complex set to be restarted as North Korea threatens South .
Move could enable it to extract more plutonium to bolster atomic stockpile .
The nuclear facilities to be used for both electricity and military uses .
Move would bolster North Korea's nuclear forces 'in quality and quantity'
U.N. chief: N Korea on a collision course that could lead to war .
By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 01:28 EST, 2 April 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 07:01 EST, 2 April 2013 . North Korea today announced that it would kick-start its nuclear programme once again by re-opening a complex which was closed as part of disarmament talks six years ago. The secretive dictatorship said it would re-start the mothballed facilities at the Yongbyon nuclear facility, which it insists is meant to generate electricity, but which is capable of making a bomb. If North Korea succeeds in making more nuclear weapons, its ongoing war of words with the South and the U.S. will take on worrying new dimensions. Moving: A F-16 fighter jet comes in for a landing as A-10 jets move to take off at a U.S. air force base in Osan, south of Seoul today . North Korea today announced that it would kick-start its nuclear programme once again by re-opening a complex which was closed as part of disarmament talks six years ago. A file handout satellite image shows the Yongbyon complex nuclear facility . Target practice: North Korea has released video footage of soldier firing at cartoon-lie targets of U.S. soldiers . A spokesman for the General Department of Atomic Energy said that the facilities to be restarted are a graphite-moderated five-megawatt reactor, which generates spent fuel rods laced with plutonium and is the core of the Yongbyon nuclear complex. The reactor is capable of churning out one atomic bomb worth of plutonium - the most common fuel in nuclear weapons - each year. The move will boost fears in Washington and among its allies about North Korea's push for nuclear-tipped missiles that can reach the United States, which it cannot currently do. Threat: Kim Jong Un, pictured centre at a meeting of North Korea's parliament today, has vowed to re-open the country's nuclear facilities . Performance: The State Merited Chorus of North Korea singing for delegates . December 2011: Kim Jong-il died and his son Kim Jong-un was named his successor. April 2012:To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, in April 2012, Pyongyang launched a long-range ballistic rocket which fell into the sea. August 2012, ahead of the annual US-South Korean drills, Kim Jong-un announced that the North Korean army was ready to deal 'deadly blows . December 12 : North Korea successfully launched a rocket on Wednesday, boosting the credentials of its new leader and stepping up the threat the isolated and impoverished state poses to opponents. The rocket, which North Korea says put a weather satellite into orbit, has been labeled by the United States, South Korea and Japan as a test of technology that could one day deliver a nuclear warhead. January 2013: North Korea announced it was planning a new nuclear test, raising the confrontation with the US to a whole new level. February 12: North Korea conducted its third nuclear test and warned that further measures would follow if the US continued its “hostility” against the North. The UN subsequently imposed more sanctions on the county. March 29: Following a mock bombing of North Korea by a US B-2 stealth bomber during a joint military drills, Pyongyang ordered rocket units be put on standby to fire on US bases in the South Pacific. March 30, North Korea declared it was entering a 'state of war' against its Southern neighbour. Yesterday footage was released showing . soldiers in the secretive country practice shooting at mocked up . Americans and South Koreans in a video released by state media. The U.N. chief says he fears North Korea is on a collision course with other nations that could lead to war. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says the isolated Asian nation appears to be 'on a collision course with the international community' amid rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, said today in Andorra 'the current crisis has already gone too far' because of escalating tensions raised by North Korea's threats of war almost daily against the United States and South Korea. He said international negotiations are urgently needed but he is 'convinced that no one intends to attack' North Korea. Pyongyang has sought disarmament-for-aid talks with Washington and more domestic loyalty by portraying North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a powerful commander. Pyongyang conducted its third nuclear test in February, prompting UN sanctions that have infuriated its leaders and led to the current tensions. The government has since declared that making nuclear arms and strengthening the economy are the nation's top priorities. According to estimates from the . Institute for Science and International Security from late 2012, North . could have enough weapons grade uranium for 21-32 nuclear weapons by . 2016 if it used one centrifuge at its Yongbyon nuclear plant to enrich . uranium to weapons-grade. 'The General Department of Atomic . Energy...decided to adjust and alter the uses of the existing nuclear . facilities, to begin with,' KCNA reported. It said the nuclear facilities would be used for both electricity and military uses. It was not clear how long it would . take to restart the reactor, whose cooling tower was blown up in a . made-for-TV event in 2008 under an agreement to suspend the atomic . complex. There have been reports of . construction work near where the tower once stood but it was not clear . whether the North was rebuilding it. North Korea added the five-megawatt, . graphite-moderated reactor to its nuclear complex in 1986 after seven . years of construction. The . country began building a 50-megawatt and a 200-megawatt reactor in . 1984, but their construction was suspended under a 1994 nuclear deal . with Washington. North . Korea has long said that the reactor operation is aimed at generating . electricity. It takes about 8,000 fuel rods to run the reactor. Warning sign: North Korea's December 12 rocket launch shows the country has likely developed the technology to fire a missile that could reach the U.S. West Coast . Reprocessing the spent fuel rods after a year of reactor operation could yield about 7kg of plutonium - enough to make at least one nuclear bomb. South Korea's new president yesterday told her troops to strike the North if it appeared likely to attack. 'If there is any provocation against South Korea and its people, there should be a strong response in initial combat without any political considerations,' Park Geun-hye told the defence minister and senior officials. War game: A South Korean tank mobilises during a military drill aimed at the North . Rules: The South has changed its rules of engagement to allow local units to respond immediately to attacks, rather than waiting for permission from Seoul . Exercise: South Korean marine's K-55 self-propelled howitzer fires during a military exercise in the border city between two Koreas, Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea . The South has changed its rules of engagement to allow local units to respond immediately to attacks, rather than waiting for permission from Seoul. Stung by criticism that its response to the shelling of a South Korean island in 2010 was tardy and weak, Seoul has also threatened to target North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and to destroy statues of the ruling Kim dynasty in the event of any new attack, a plan that has outraged Pyongyang. Park's intervention came on the heels of a meeting of the North's ruling Workers Party Central Committee where Kim rejected the notion that Pyongyang was going to use its nuclear arms development as a bargaining chip. Guard: An armed South Korean soldier manning at the barricaded border defence line as the Imjin River North Korea is seen in background near the sensitive Demilitarized Zone in Paju district, South Korea . Border: South Korean trucks arrive from North Korea's Kaesong Industrial Complex at the inter-Korean transit office in Paju . On patrol: A South Korean soldier patrolling at the highway entrance . 'The nuclear weapons of Songun Korea are not goods for getting U.S. dollars,' KCNA news agency quoted him as saying. In Washington, the White House has said the United States takes North Korea's war threats seriously. But White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Monday: 'I would note that despite the harsh rhetoric we are hearing from Pyongyang, we are not seeing changes to the North Korean military posture, such as large-scale mobilisations and positioning of forces.' A U.S. defence official said on Monday the USS McCain, an Aegis-class guided-missile destroyer used for ballistic missile defense, was positioned off the peninsula's southwestern coast. It was not immediately clear where the ship was today.
satellite image shows the Yongbyon complex Energy said that the facilities to be restarted video released by state media. The U.N. chief says he fears North Korea is on a collision course with other nations that could lead to war. collision course with the international reported. It said the nuclear facilities would be used for both electricity and military uses. It