In a first, DPRK releases photos of uranium enrichment facility
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DPRK leader Kim Jong Un urges the adoption of advanced centrifuge technology to further reinforce the nation’s capacity for producing weapon-grade nuclear materials.
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This undated photo released from the DPRK's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on September 13, 2024, shows DPRK leader Kim Jong Un (front) inspecting the Nuclear Weapons Institute and the production base of weapon-grade nuclear materials, at an undisclosed location in the DPRK. (KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) unveiled on Friday images of its uranium enrichment facility for the first time, showing leader Kim Jong Un inspecting the site and calling for an increase in centrifuges to expand the nation's nuclear arsenal.
Despite conducting its first nuclear test in 2006 and facing a series of UN sanctions over its weapons programs, the DPRK has never previously disclosed specifics about its uranium enrichment operations.
During his visit, Kim toured the Nuclear Weapons Institute and the “production base of weapon-grade nuclear materials,” according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), which did not disclose the location or the date of the visit.
Kim "stressed the need to further augment the number of centrifuges in order to exponentially increase the nuclear weapons for self-defense," KCNA mentioned, releasing images of the leader inspecting rows of the centrifuges.
He also urged the adoption of advanced centrifuge technology to further reinforce the nation’s capacity for producing weapon-grade nuclear materials and "stressed the need to set a higher long-term goal in producing nuclear materials necessary."
In response, South Korea condemned the DPRK's uranium enrichment facility and its intentions to enhance its production of materials for tactical nuclear weapons, labeling it “a clear violation of a number of UN Security Council resolutions,” according to a spokesperson for Seoul's unification ministry.
South Korea’s spy agency has claimed that the DPRK likely operates several uranium enrichment facilities, including one at the Yongbyon nuclear site, which Pyongyang has decommissioned after past negotiations.
Relations between Pyongyang and Seoul remain tense, with the DPRK recently deploying 250 ballistic missile launchers near its southern border. On Thursday, South Korea reported that the DPRK had fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles into waters off the Korean Peninsula’s eastern coast.
A day earlier, Japan's Defense Ministry also mentioned that the DPRK had launched several ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan.
KCNA, however, pointed out on Friday that the launch was a test of a “new-type 600mm multiple rocket launcher,” supervised by Kim.
The agency indicated that the tests, which were aimed at enhancing the launcher’s control system and verifying its combat effectiveness, succeeded, with shells hitting a target on an island in the Sea of Japan.
South Korean news outlet News1, citing military officials, reported on Thursday that Pyongyang had launched two to five short-range ballistic missiles from the KN-25 multiple-launch rocket system.
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