The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has raised the possibility that North Korea may be expanding its uranium enrichment capabilities after a new building believed to be an enrichment facility was identified in Yongbyon.
The agency expressed serious concern over the development and emphasized that it would continue its verification efforts.
An IAEA report released on August 18 said satellite imagery and related data analyzed over the past year confirmed that construction of the new facility in Yongbyon began in December last year and that external construction was completed in May, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun on August 20.
The IAEA assessed that the facility resembles the uranium enrichment plant in Kangson, near Pyongyang. It also noted that preparations for additional nuclear testing remain in place at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site. Based on this report, the IAEA plans to discuss North Korea’s nuclear program at its annual General Conference scheduled for mid-September.
The Yomiuri Shimbun commented that “there has long been a facility in Yongbyon that produces highly enriched uranium, a key ingredient for nuclear weapons,” and that “if North Korea has built a new enrichment facility, it signals an acceleration in its nuclear development.”
In June, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi stated during a Board of Governors meeting that a facility similar to the Kangson enrichment site was under construction in Yongbyon.
Earlier that same month, Beyond Parallel — a North Korea-focused project run by the U.S. think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) — also reported that a new facility suspected to be for uranium enrichment was under construction in Yongbyon.
On January 29, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited a nuclear materials production base and a nuclear weapons research institute, reaffirming his intention to speed up nuclear weapons development.
“A long-term confrontation with the world’s most unstable and most wickedly hostile nations is inevitable,” Kim said at the time. “Ceaseless reinforcement of our nuclear shield is imperative.”
BY CHO MUN-GYU [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]
