UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon says immediate talks are needed to diffuse the tension on the Korean Peninsula.  This comes after Pyongyang announced it would restart its main Yongbyon Nuclear Complex.

Ban says there is no need for North Korea to “be on a collision course with the international community,” and “Nuclear threats are not a game."

The Yongbyon facility was supposed to be closed in the 2007 disarmament deal.  It gives North Korea two ways to achieve its nuclear goals:  A uranium enrichment facility to make weapons-grade material; and a nuclear reactor to produce plutonium.

Playing the Yongbyon card has given North Korea significant leverage in past negotiations with the west.

Pyongyang’s long-suffering ally China called for restraint from all sides to resolve the "complex and sensitive" situation.