'A historic milestone for advancing nuclear capabilities'

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspects a newly operational nuclear material production factory on Wednesday, KCNA reported Thursday. [KCNA website capture]
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspects a newly operational nuclear material production factory on Wednesday, KCNA reported Thursday. [KCNA website capture]

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected a new nuclear material production facility believed to be a uranium enrichment plant, reaffirming his commitment to strengthening the country's nuclear forces.

KCNA reported Thursday that Kim visited the newly operational nuclear material production factory on Wednesday, accompanied by senior officials from the Central Committee's munitions industry department and the Nuclear Weapons Institute.

Kim said that under the direct guidance of the Eighth Party Central Committee, the country's weapons-grade nuclear material production capacity had "surpassed more than double the previous level" over five years of nuclear force buildup, and praised officials for faithfully implementing decisions adopted at key plenary sessions.

He went on to say that the Ninth Party Congress had "decided on a new five-year plan for nuclear force buildup to continuously enhance the country's nuclear war deterrence," and had adopted "a strategic decision to further expand nuclear material production capacity and accordingly continue increasing the number of nuclear weapons held."

Kim also cited "the particular nature of our revolution, which must be accompanied by a prolonged confrontation with the most vicious enemies," and said nuclear weapons were "the fundamental guarantee that reliably secures the country's safety, interests and right to development."

He said "the urgency and responsibility of the historic mission to qualitatively and quantitatively, continuously and acceleratingly expand the nuclear war deterrent — our powerful safeguard — is rising to an even higher level," reaffirming Pyongyang's intent to fully exercise its status as a nuclear state.

KCNA also said an important consultative meeting on nuclear force buildup was held that day. Delivering key conclusions with practical guidelines, Kim said North Korea had "updated important figures in nuclear activities on Thursday," adding that "tactical and strategic demand aspects in building nuclear deterrence have been comprehensively considered."

He said North Korea had "confirmed the sequence and guarantees for implementing the vast future plans to exponentially strengthen the state nuclear forces," calling it "a historic event that has set a transformative milestone for advancing nuclear capabilities."

Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said North Korea's reporting reflects "an attitude of trying to once again treat the impossibility of denuclearization and the irreversibility of nuclear weapons advancement as a foregone conclusion." He added that the move "can be interpreted as an intent to shake the perspective on the North Korean nuclear issue — without directly provoking the United States as a weapons test would — through the card of expanding and mass-producing nuclear material, which is difficult to defend against, in order to shift the conversation away from denuclearization and toward arms control and threat reduction."


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