North Korea published photos on Friday of communist dictator Kim Jong-un touring a national “Nuclear Weapons Institute,” where the regime is allegedly enriching uranium to fulfill Kim’s call for an “exponential” increase in the nation’s nuclear arsenal.
Kim toured the enrichment facility and “acquainted himself with the production of nuclear warheads and current nuclear materials and set forth important tasks for long-term plan for increasing the production of weapon-grade nuclear materials,” according to the regime’s flagship propaganda outlet the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The report featured photos of Kim, accompanied by military officials with their faces blurred out, walking amid rows of machines that appeared to be uranium centrifuges, used to enrich uranium for use in the manufacture of nuclear bombs. KCNA’s documenting of Kim’s tour is an unprecedented report, South Korean media noted – the regime had never before revealed any details of its uranium enrichment program.
The report concluded a week that began with Kim proclaiming he had ordered his military to engage in an “exponential” increase in the number of nuclear weapons North Korea possesses. Kim had first made that call in January 2023, following moves to outlaw denuclearization talks and increase the number of belligerent threats against South Korea and America. Kim has also recently claimed to implement a program to develop indigenously made suicide drones and some sort of “underwater nuclear weapon system” and signed a mutual defense agreement with Russia that would require Moscow to defend Pyongyang in the event of an attack.
KCNA’s article on Kim’s visit to the alleged uranium enrichment facility claimed the dictator offered a glowing review of the complex.
“He highly praised the scientists, technicians and officials in the field of nuclear weapons production for having carried out without fail the plan for producing weapon-grade nuclear materials needed for manufacturing nuclear warheads,” KCNA relayed, “cherishing the firm and steadfast revolutionary spirit and faith to firmly defend the victorious advance of the revolutionary cause of Juche with the strongest nuclear force.”
Juche, or “self-reliance,” is the official philosophy of North Korea under the communist Kim family cult.
KCNA claimed that the facility was “dynamically producing nuclear materials by studying, developing and introducing all the system elements,” granting Kim “great satisfaction.” The report relayed that Kim repeated his call to “exponentially increase the nuclear weapons for self-defence true to the Party’s line of building up nuclear armed forces.”
“He stressed the need to set a higher long-term goal in producing nuclear materials necessary for the manufacture of tactical nuclear weapons,” the report continued, “and concentrate all efforts on bringing about fresh leap forward, setting forth important tasks and orientation.”
The KCNA report notably did not identify the uranium enrichment facility in question or offer its location. It nonetheless marked the first time North Korea offered any information on such facilities publicly at all.
The South Korean news agency Yonhap reported on Friday that South Korean and American officials “believe North Korea operates uranium enrichment facilities at the Kangson nuclear complex near Pyongyang and at the Yongbyon nuclear site.” It is not clear from the KCNA report if the facility revealed is either of those or a newly developed site.
“The recently mentioned location could be North Korea’s second uranium enrichment plant in Kangson, as the dispatch reported that Kim had toured the ‘construction site,’” Yonhap noted, “corresponding with recent observations made by the U.N. nuclear watchdog.” The Korea JoongAng Daily newspaper concurred with that suggestion.
The South Korean Unification Ministry responded to the KCNA report by condemning Pyongyang’s belligerence and vowing that “any nuclear threat or provocation by North Korea will be met with an overwhelming and strong response from our government and military.” An unnamed South Korean official told JoongAng that, additionally, Seoul is closely watching for signs that Kim may soon organize another nuclear weapons test.
“The timing of a nuclear test can vary according to the decisions made by the North Korean leadership,” the anonymous person said, citing the upcoming American presidential election as a potential factor in deciding when to attempt another test. North Korea has conducted six known nuclear weapons tests, the last one in 2017 at the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site. Pyongyang ultimately hosted several talks with the administration of former President Donald Trump that resulted in Kim Jong-un claiming to shut down the site and hosting an exhibition in which North Korean authorities detonated small weapons to simulate the demolition of the site in 2018. In 2022, reports surfaced claiming that Kim may have ordered his military to rehabilitate the site for upcoming tests, though observers suggested that the destruction caused by six nuclear bombs detonating may have made Mount Mantap, which hosts the site, unstable.
Kim Jong-un first introduced the idea of an “exponential increase of the country’s nuclear arsenal” in his New Year’s message in 2023. A report published in June by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) indicated that North Korea’s military has fulfilled that call, as it found evidence that North Korea possesses 50 nuclear weapons – 20 more than it did in 2023.