Kim Jong Un orders fast-track expansion of North Korea’s nuclear power

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has visited a new nuclear materials production facility and ordered the country’s nuclear capabilities to be expanded at “exponential speed,” according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The visit took place on June 3. Officials from the defence industry department of the Workers’ Party of Korea Central Committee and staff from the Nuclear Weapons Research Institute were also present.

During the visit, Kim inspected production processes, technical indicators, and future output plans. He praised the workforce for precisely implementing decisions of recent party central committee plenary meetings, stressing that they had established a solid foundation for further strengthening the production base of weapons-grade nuclear materials.

Kim said that under the leadership of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party, the country had doubled its capacity to produce weapons-grade nuclear materials over a five-year period. He also noted that the 9th Party Congress approved a new five-year program to strengthen nuclear forces, including a strategic decision to further increase production capacity and expand the nuclear arsenal.

“In doing so, we have comprehensively considered the tactical and strategic requirements for building up our nuclear deterrent and, on the basis of this, adopted a highly responsible and crucial decision. We have confirmed the order of priority for implementing the ambitious future plan designed to beef up our state’s nuclear forces at an exponential rate, as well as a requisite guarantee for the purpose,” Kim stated.

He added that the significant increase in production capacity has created conditions for entering a new stage in the development of nuclear deterrence.

According to the report, the meeting refined the sequence for implementing the next phase of strengthening the country’s nuclear forces and confirmed guarantees for its execution.

By Jeyhun Aghazada