North Korean leader Kim Jong Un tours a uranium enrichment facility in this photo issued by the state-run Korean Central News Agency in September 2024. (KCNA)
A recent surge in nuclear facility activity suggests North Korea may be significantly advancing its ability to produce nuclear weapons, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said.
Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told reporters in Seoul on Wednesday that the uptick in Pyongyang’s operations, including at the Yongbyon nuclear complex, “point to a very serious increase” in its weapons development capacity.
Grossi was in Seoul to meet with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun to discuss the North’s nuclear program and the South’s plan to develop its own nuclear-powered submarines.
The IAEA in June said North Korea appeared to be building a new facility with “dimensions and features” like those at its other major nuclear site in Kangson, in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
Grossi at his press conference confirmed Pyongyang is building a new facility at Yongbyon resembling its existing uranium enrichment plant. The agency estimates North Korea possesses “a few dozen warheads,” he said.
Although precise production levels are difficult to determine without on-site access, the new facility’s external features suggest a “significant increase” in enrichment capacity, Grossi said.
In his meeting with Cho, the two leaders expressed “deep concerns” about North Korea’s nuclear program and underscored the IAEA’s “indispensable verification role in support of much-needed renewed diplomatic efforts on this issue,” according to an IAEA statement Wednesday.
Cho in the statement reaffirmed Seoul’s commitment to fully comply with its obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons as it pursues plans for conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines.
President Donald Trump announced on Oct. 29 that the United States had greenlit Seoul’s bid to build a nuclear-powered submarine at a Philadelphia shipyard. The move comes as the U.S. moves toward transferring wartime operational control of military forces to South Korea.
Grossi also visited the Demilitarized Zone during his trip, where he stressed the need for renewed diplomacy to address challenges to international peace and security, the IAEA said.
“As the world’s attention is focused on developments in the Middle East, we must not forget tensions and divisions elsewhere, including here on the Korean Peninsula,” Grossi said, according to the IAEA statement.
The agency stands ready to support diplomatic efforts to ease tensions, promote peaceful co-existence on the Korean Peninsula and to peacefully resolve the North Korea nuclear issue, he added.
