Pyongyang has unveiled a new facility to produce nuclear bomb fuels, with leader Kim Jong-un announcing plans to bolster the country’s nuclear forces “at an exponential rate”.
Some experts still question whether North Korea has functioning nuclear missiles that can reach the US mainland, but the nuclear plant’s disclosure implies that Kim is eager to cement his country’s status as a nuclear power and has no intentions of placing his bomb programme on a negotiating table.
After visiting the site on Wednesday, Kim said he and other top officials “confirmed the order of priority for implementing the ambitious future plan designed to beef up our state’s nuclear forces at an exponential rate,” according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
KCNA said yesterday that the facility used “more sophisticated technology” but didn’t provide further details like its location.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff assessed the site as a uranium enrichment plant and said it was closely coordinating with the United States to monitor North Korean nuclear activities.
This is the third time that North Korea has disclosed a uranium enrichment site.
In 2010, North Korea showed one at its main Yongbyon nuclear complex to visiting American scholars, and in 2024, North Korea released photos of another covert uranium-enrichment plant, which experts believe was at its Kangson complex.
Experts say the newly-disclosed site is likely an additional uranium enrichment facility that North Korea is suspected to have been building at Yongbyon.
“Based on a preliminary analysis, it appears that this facility is likely the newly-added Yongbyon enrichment facility. It appears to have two levels and represents a substantial expansion of enrichment capability,” said Ankit Panda, an expert with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
“North Korea’s ongoing nuclear expansion does not have a near-term end in sight,” he said.
During his plant visit, Kim said the urgency for bolstering up the country’s nuclear war deterrent, both in quality and quantity, has grown because of confrontations with “the most ferocious enemies”, an apparent reference to the United States and South Korea.
Kim said North Korea’s nuclear materials production capacity has more than doubled compared with five years ago, a claim that cannot be verified independently. — AP
