North Korea discloses uranium enrichment facility as Kim Jong Un calls for more nuclear weapons

North Korea reveals uranium enrichment facility, aims to exponentially increase nuclear weapons, raising international concerns.

North Korea offered a rare glimpse into a secretive facility to produce weapons-grade uranium as state media reported on Friday (September 13, 2024) that leader Kim Jong Un visited the area and called for stronger efforts to “exponentially” increase the number of his nuclear weapons.

It's unclear if the site is at the North's main Yongbyon nuclear complex, but it's the North's first disclosure of a uranium-enrichment facility since it showed one at Yongbyon to visiting American scholars in 2010.

While the latest unveiling is likely an attempt to apply more pressure on the U.S. and its allies, the images North Korea's media released of the area could provide outsiders with a valuable source of information for estimating the amount of nuclear ingredients that North Korea has produced.

During a visit to the Nuclear Weapons Institute and the production base of weapon-grade nuclear materials, Mr. Kim expressed “great satisfaction repeatedly over the wonderful technical force of the nuclear power field” held by North Korea, the official Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) reported.

KCNA said Mr. Kim went around the control room of the uranium enrichment base and a construction site that would expand its capacity for producing nuclear weapons. North Korean state media photos showed Mr. Kim being briefed by scientists while walking along long lines of tall gray tubes, but KCNA didn't say when Mr. Kim visited the facilities and where they are located.

KCNA said Mr. Kim stressed the need to further augment the number of centrifuges to “exponentially increase the nuclear weapons for self-defense,” a goal he has repeatedly stated in recent years. It said Mr. Kim ordered officials to push forward the introduction of a new-type centrifuge, which has reached its completion stage.

Mr. Kim said North Korea needs greater defence and preemptive attack capabilities because “anti-(North Korea) nuclear threats perpetrated by the U.S. imperialists-led vassal forces have become more undisguised and crossed the red-line,” KCNA said.