N. Korea may have used the black market for uranium enrichment: report

A U.N. nuclear watchdog claimed that North Korea may have used the black market to set up its uranium enrichment facilities that can be used to make nuclear weapons, media reports said Saturday.

A confidential report by the International Atomic Energy Agency obtained by the Associated Press claimed that equipment for the uranium enrichment facility in Yongbyon, which was visited by a group of experts from the United States late last year, is similar to products sold by the clandestine supply network supported by Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan.

The group of experts led by Siegfried Hecker was invited to check the facility and reported seeing about 2,000 centrifuges that can be used to enrich uranium.

At the time, North Korea said the facility was set up to make nuclear fuel, although the North does not have an atomic reactor.

The country tested nuclear devices in 2006 and 2009, although the fissile material used for the detonations was plutonium.

The IAEA report added that the Yongbyon facility was probably built after Pyongyang expelled international inspectors from its soil in April 2009.

The media report, meanwhile, said the Vienna-based international agency under the United Nations plans to hold a board meeting later in the month to discuss issues related to countries such as North Korea and Iran, which outsiders suspect are trying to move forward on their nuclear programs.