A leading French daily says North Korea is repairing and modernizing its key nuclear facilities in Yongbyon that were shut down in 2007.

Le Figaro said Friday that the move suggests Pyongyang is seeking to reactivate its uranium enrichment facilities in order to produce plutonium.

The paper added that the North’s apparent moves to resume its nuclear development efforts are negatively affecting diplomatic strategies the Obama administration has devised regarding the communist state.

The report cited that the North had warned during a speech at the U.N. General Assembly last week that that as long as U.S nuclear aircraft carriers sail around the seas of North Korea, Pyongyang will not give up its nuclear weapons.

The daily said the United States now is aware that what the North really wants is to be recognized as a nuclear power, not to use nuclear weapons as a means of negotiation.