North Korea recently provided a rare look at one of its secretive facilities involved in producing weapons-grade uranium. State media reported that leader Kim Jong Un visited the site and called for efforts to exponentially increase the country’s nuclear arsenal.
While it is unclear if this facility is located at the Yongbyon nuclear complex, this is the first time North Korea has publicly revealed such a uranium enrichment facility since 2010, when it showed one at Yongbyon to American scholars. The newly released images could offer valuable insights for analysts assessing North Korea’s nuclear capabilities.
During his visit, Kim Jong Un expressed satisfaction with the progress of the country’s nuclear program, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Kim toured areas of the facility, including the control room for uranium enrichment and a construction site intended to increase production capacity.
Photographs released by North Korean media show Kim being briefed by scientists near long rows of gray tubes. However, KCNA did not provide specifics on the timing or exact location of the visit, consistent with the regime’s secretive handling of its nuclear activities.
North Korea Highlights Uranium Facility as Kim Jong Un Pushes for Expanded Nuclear Arsenal
Kim also emphasized the need to expand the number of centrifuges to significantly boost the production of nuclear weapons. He instructed officials to push forward with the deployment of a new type of centrifuge, which is reportedly nearing completion.
Kim framed this increased nuclear capability as necessary for defense, citing what he described as growing nuclear threats from the U.S. and its allies. He argued that these external threats have become more blatant, crossing a “red line” that demands a stronger preemptive strike capability.
North Korea has long centered its nuclear activities around the Yongbyon nuclear complex, which was first shown to the outside world in 2010 when Stanford University scholars visited the site. At the time, North Korean officials claimed they had installed 2,000 centrifuges at the facility.
In recent years, satellite imagery has shown signs of expansion at Yongbyon, which has the capability to produce both highly enriched uranium and plutonium—both essential for nuclear weapons production.
The recent disclosure of the facility, while limited, provides foreign experts with important data to refine their understanding of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities.
According to Ankit Panda of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the images will aid analysts in reassessing how much nuclear material North Korea has likely accumulated. However, the exact amount of weapons-grade uranium or plutonium produced, and where it is stored, remains uncertain.
