“INCREASING ARSENALS”
North Korea invited some foreign scientists to view a centrifuge facility at Yongbyon in 2010, but Jenny Town of the U.S.-based Stimson Center said Friday’s report is the first and only photographs of the equipment.
“It shows how advanced their enrichment capability has become, which gives greater credibility to both their ability and commitment to increasing their nuclear weapons arsenals,” she said.
It could also be meant to influence the US election and send a message to the next administration that denuclearisation is no longer possible and it should recognise North Korea as a nuclear state, said Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul.
On Friday, top Russian security official Sergei Shoigu met Kim in North Korea and discussed bilateral and international issues, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported.
The meeting is the latest high-level exchange between the two states amid deepening military cooperation. Pyongyang continues to supply weapons to Russia, according to analysts, including brand new ballistic missiles produced this year.
KCNA said in a separate report Kim oversaw the test launch of a new 600mm multiple launch rocket system on Thursday, which a South Korean official said earlier may have been to test the weapons for export to Russia.
North Korea has conducted six underground nuclear tests between 2006 and 2017, and has previously shown photos of what it says were nuclear warheads.
Estimates of the number of North Korean nuclear weapons varies widely. In July a report by the Federation of American Scientists concluded that the country may have produced enough fissile material to build up to 90 nuclear warheads, but that it has likely assembled closer to 50.
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Publish date : 2024-09-13 03:28:00
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