North Korea says it has revamped and restarted all its atomic bomb fuel production plants.

The announcement today will further worsen ties between Pyongyang and the outside world.

It is likely an attempt to put pressure on the United States to restart talks that could eventually provide the impoverished North with concessions and ease rigid international sanctions.

The declaration in state media follows Pyongyang's warning on Monday that it is ready to launch "satellites" aboard long-range rockets that the West considers banned long-range missiles meant to eventually threaten America's mainland with atomic bombs.

The North says the launches would mark the ruling communist party's anniversary next month.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.