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- North Korea reveals first images of uranium enrichment facility, state media says, amid nuclear program expansion
North Korea reveals first images of uranium enrichment facility, state media says, amid nuclear program expansion
North Korea has recently unveiled its uranium enrichment facility, which is capable of producing weapons-grade material. The facility was visited by Kim Jong Un, who urged increased efforts to expand the country's nuclear arsenal. This is the first time North Korea has publicly disclosed details of its facility since its first nuclear test in 2006. The facility is used to produce highly enriched material through the use of centrifuges, which spin the original material to increase its concentration. Kim Jong Un has called for the facility to increase its production and has urged his engineers to expand their efforts. The images of the facility have been released by North Korea and will likely be pored over by foreign governments for intelligence. The country is under UN sanctions for its banned weapons programs, and the development of its nuclear arsenal is a major concern for the international community.
Anti-(North Korea) nuclear threats perpetrated by the US imperialists-led vassal forces have become more undisguised and crossed the red-line.
This comes as North Korea continues its active development of its nuclear arms capabilities in spite of the international sanctions as well as objections from South Korea.
North Korea has historically engaged in provocations during U.S. presidential election years, so the recent missile launches should not come as a surprise.
Kim Jong Un's visit to the uranium enrichment facility, two months prior to the election, suggests not only that Pyongyang's indigenous ability to produce highly-enriched uranium is becoming increasingly advanced, but crucially, that North Korea has no intention to denuclearise, nor does it wish to offer any concessions on its nuclear and missile programmes in the future.
These are the first public images we've had of the inside of a DPRK enrichment facility, so they are pretty extraordinary in that sense.
By showing highly enriched uranium and production facilities, they are sending a message that the world must recognize North Korea as a nuclear state. By disclosing these facilities, Kim Jong Un is saying that denuclearization of North Korea is unrealistic.
It is also a message demanding other countries to acknowledge North Korea as a nuclear state.
For analysts outside the country, the released images will provide a valuable source of information for rectifying our assumptions about how much material North Korea may have amassed to date.
Kim is exceptionally confident these days and he's particularly interested in making sure that his calls for a massive increase in nuclear capabilities are not misinterpreted.
The Kim regime may also be flaunting that it still enjoys diplomatic and economic support from Russia and China, despite its nuclear buildup.
North-South Korea Conflict
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sources
- 1.Al Jazeera
- 2.CNN
- 3.France 24
- 4.The New York Times
- 5.The Times of India
- 6.BBC
- 7.The Times
- 8.ABC News (Australia)
- 9.The Washington Post
- 10.Daily Sabah
- 11.Le Monde
- 12.Agence France-Presse
perspectives
- 1.US Foreign Policy
- 2.Russian Foreign Policy
- 3.Chinese Foreign Policy
- 4.Intercontinental Ballistic Missile
- 5.Nuclear Weapons
- 6.Japanese Foreign Policy
- 7.North-South Korea Conflict
- 8.South Korea Foreign Policy
- 9.South Korean politics
- 10.North Korea Nuclear Posture
- 11.Conflict
countries
- 1.China
- 2.Korea, Democratic People's Republic of
- 3.Korea, Republic of
- 4.Russian Federation
- 5.Ukraine
- 6.United States
organizations
- 1.UN Security Council
- 2.Nuclear Weapons Institute
- 3.Korea Institute for National Unification
- 4.Stanford University
- 5.Stimson Center
- 6.Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- 7.38North
- 8.Ewha University
- 9.Federation of American Scientists
- 10.International Atomic Energy Agency
- 11.Korea Institute for Defense Analysis
- 12.Arms Control Association
persons
- 1.Kim Jong-Un
- 2.Leif-Eric Easley
- 3.Hong Min
- 4.Ankit Panda
- 5.Siegfried Hecker
- 6.Lee Sang-Kyu
- 7.Rafael Grossi
- 8.Choe Sang-Hun
- 9.Darya Dolzikova
- 10.Edward Howell
- 11.Jenny Town
- 12.Lee Choon Geun