Experts: N. Korea May Be Pushing Biden for Nuclear Deal Trump Rejected

WASHINGTON - Experts say North Korea’s reactivation of the reactor at its Yongbyon nuclear facility may be a calculated step by Pyongyang to gain leverage in a renewed effort to gain concessions from the U.S. 

North Korea resumed the operation of a nuclear reactor at Yongbyon in early July, according to the annual report released by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Friday. The reactor, capable of producing plutonium to make nuclear weapons, had been dormant from early December 2018. Former President Donald Trump rejected an offer by regime leader Kim Jong Un to dismantle the Yongbyon site in exchange for sanctions relief when the two met in Hanoi in February 2019. The summit collapsed because Trump wanted Pyongyang to shut down all its nuclear facilities, a move Kim refused to make.