`N. Korea employs 3,000 workers in 20 nuclear facilities`

North Korea reportedly employs 3,000 workers in 20 facilities dedicated to developing the country`s nuclear program, according to a lawmaker Thursday, Yonhap News reported.

Rep. Lee Mi-kyung of the main opposition Democratic Party, citing a report submitted by the Unification Ministry, claimed the country runs 20 nuclear facilities -- 11 in a nuclear complex in Yongbyon, north of Pyongyang, and nine uranium-related mines and facilities in Pyongsan and Sunchon in North Hwanghae Province and South Pyongan Province, respectively.

The Yongbyon nuclear facility underwent a disablement process under a deal reached in 2007 with South Korea, the United States, Japan, Russia and China, but the North announced earlier this year that it would reverse the process to protest the U.N. condemnation of its April 5 long-range rocket launch.

Seoul estimates the North employs 3,000 workers throughout the country`s nuclear facilities, including some 200 scientists and key research personnel, according to Lee.