North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme is leaking highly toxic water into the sea, disturbing new satellite photos suggest.


Almost half a million North Koreans could be consuming the poisoned water straight from a polluted river or through crops which are irrigated by it.

US-based researcher Jacob Bogle made the alarming discovery when he put together a comprehensive map of the country using satellite images.

In the photos, a pipeline built to carry toxic water from dictator Kim Jong-un's Pyongsan uranium mine to a nearby waste reservoir appears to be leaking into a river, which empties into the Yellow Sea, Mr Bogle said.

Mr Bogle said: “I was able to review high-resolution historical satellite imagery for multiple years going back to 2003.


“Each of the images shows an ever-growing pile of leaked material on either end of the pipe that takes waste material from the plant to an unlined reservoir.


“Some of the images also show fluids being actively spilled directly into the river.


“The plant is one of two declared uranium milling facilities in the country. It takes low-quality coal and processes it to create yellowcake, which then contains around 80 per cent uranium.


“The extraction and milling requires multiple chemical processes and leaves behind a very toxic mix of waste materials.


“That toxic waste is then sent to the nearby reservoir, leaking and travelling into the Ryesong River in the process.”


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