Though it could take months before the facility is fully operational, the move is a key step away from a 2007 disarmament deal
- signed months after North Korea conducted a nuclear test - that called for the North to disable its atomic facilities in exchange for much-needed energy aid.
"The reprocessing of spent fuel rods from the pilot atomic power plant has begun," a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. "This will contribute to bolstering the nuclear deterrence for self-defense in every way to cope with the increasing military threats from the hostile forces."
With North Korea believed to have enough weaponized plutonium to build half a dozen or more atomic bombs, neighboring powers and the U.S. have been trying for years to stem the country's nuclear ambitions by offering aid in exchange for disarmament.
A 2006 long-range missile test and an underground nuclear test just months later alarmed the world and prompted U.N. Security Council resolutions and sanctions against North Korea barring it from ballistic missile-related activity.
In February 2007, North Korea agreed to a six-nation deal that required it to dismantle its atomic program in exchange for 1 million tons of fuel oil and other concessions.
Disablement began in November 2007, with North Korea completing eight of 11 required steps and blowing up a cooling tower at its main Yongbyon complex in June 2008 in a dramatic show of its commitment to disarmament.
But the process came to an abrupt halt just weeks later because of a dispute with Washington over how to verify North Korea's 18,000-page list of past nuclear activities. The latest round of talks, in December, failed to end the deadlock.
With talks at a standstill, North Korea announced earlier this year it would launch a satellite into space using a multistage rocket
- a move the U.S., Japan and other nations warned would violate the 2006 U.N. resolution barring missile activity since multistage rockets can also be mounted with warheads.
Defying the warnings, North Korea went ahead with the rocket launch on April 5, bringing Security Council condemnation.
In response, North Korea expelled international nuclear monitors, vowed to restart its atomic program and quit the disarmament negotiations.
