Kim Jong-un has opened a new uranium enrichment plant as part of a pledge to take on North Korea’s “most ferocious enemies”.
The facility, built to produce fuel for nuclear weapons, is part of Pyongyang’s plan “to beef up our state’s nuclear forces at an exponential rate”, according to state media.
The leader of the hermit kingdom toured the plant and said the urgency for bolstering the country’s nuclear deterrent had grown because of confrontations with “the most ferocious enemies”, an apparent reference to the US and South Korea.
South Korean intelligence confirmed that the site was a uranium enrichment plant and said Seoul was working closely with Washington to monitor any activity.
Kim has made no secret of his ambitions to enhance his country’s nuclear weapons capabilities, more than doubling its production capacity in the last five years, according to state media.
The regime is believed to have assembled a total of 50 nuclear warheads to date, with the fissile material to manufacture 90.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had previously reported ongoing enrichment facilities in central Yongbyon and another in western Kangson.
It is unclear where the new plant is located, but the agency had said in March that it was monitoring the construction of a new building in Yongbyon, “which has dimensions and infrastructure, including power supply and cooling capacity, similar to the Kangson enrichment facility”.
At the time of the IAEA report, the external portion of the building had been completed and it was predicted internal work was under way.
In the images posted by state media, Kim was seen inspecting large silver canisters, which were likely centrifuges used to enrich weapons-grade uranium.
State media said that the new production lines were “based on more sophisticated technology”.
It is the third time in nearly three years that Kim has been seen inspecting a nuclear production facility.
Kim has previously vowed to “thoroughly annihilate” the US and South Korea if it were provoked, and has rejected any engagement with Seoul.
In light of the recent visit to the nuclear plant, North Korean state media said that the threats were “getting more serious every moment”, which highlighted “the urgency and responsibility of the historic mission to bolster up both in quality and quantity and in a sustained and accelerated way the nuclear war deterrent”.
While Kim met Donald Trump, the US president, three times during his first term in office, efforts to bring the two men together again have not been successful.
In September, Pyongyang said that talks with Washington would only happen if it stopped insisting that North Korea abandon its nuclear weapons.
Instead, Kim has focused his engagement on Russia and China, with Xi Jinping expected to visit North Korea in the coming weeks.