Seoul’s spy agency told lawmakers on Thursday that North Korea has likely enriched enough uranium to build a “double-digit” number of nuclear bombs.
The briefing included evidence Kim Jong Un‘s regime is making progress in its efforts to develop more powerful and accurate missiles aimed at targeting its rival South Korea.
The closed-door parliamentary briefing by U.S. ally South Korea’s National Intelligence Service came after North Korea offered a rare glimpse into its secretive facility to produce weapons-grade uranium earlier this month in Kangson, just west of the capital Pyongyang.
Spies believe this facility is producing Uranium-235 essential for nuclear chain reactions. During his publicized visit earlier this month leader Kim Jong Un reiterated his goal to “exponentially” increase his nation’s stock of nuclear weapons.
State-run Korean Central News Agency reported Kim saying he felt “invigorated” by what he saw at the Kangson facility, while urging the country not to become complacent. He also called for a continued buildup of centrifuges, including a new, recently completed model to bolster “the foundation for producing weapons-grade nuclear materials.”
South Korea’s spy agency said Kim’s public disclosure of the facility was likely a statement of defiance toward Washington ahead of the U.S. presidential election. The public tour was also intended to showcase his military accomplishments to his people amid deepening economic struggles in the country, according to Lee Seong-kweun, one of the lawmakers who attended the briefing.
When asked about North Korea’s bomb fuel capacity, the agency said North Korea likely has around 70 kilograms (154 pounds) of plutonium and an unspecified but considerable amount of weapons grade uranium that would be enough to build “at least a double-digit number” of weapons, Lee said.
North Korea has previously only confirmed the existence of the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center uranium enrichment plant about 60 miles north of the capital. However, some analysts say North Korea likely has other hidden sites for enriching uranium in addition to Yongbyon and the newly revealed facility at Kangson.
Kim’s visit to the uranium enrichment site earlier this month was followed by a North Korean missile test just days later, North Korea continues to flaunt its weapons capabilities in the face of deepening confrontations with Washington and Seoul.
North Korean state media said the test launches on Sept. 18 involved two types of new missiles—one designed to deliver “superlarge” conventional warheads and the other a “strategic” cruise missile, which is a term that implies it was developed for nuclear strikes.
North Korean state media reports on the tests suggested that North Korea was improving the capabilities of the weapons, which are designed for delivering precision strikes on South Korean targets.
Some analysts speculate that North Korea could attempt to ramp up pressure on Washington by conducting further nuclear tests ahead of the U.S. presidential election.
But the South Korean spy agency assessed that North Korea could wait on a nuclear test until after the election since there are other steps it may want to try first, like test-firing a long-range missile capable of targeting the U.S. mainland or launching a military reconnaissance satellite, Lee said.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press
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