North Korea released images for the first time of the centrifuges that produce fuel for its nuclear bombs, and leader Kim Jong Un visited a uranium enrichment facility and called for an increase in production to grow the arsenal.
The state media report on Kim’s visit to the Nuclear Weapons Institute and the production base for nuclear materials for weapons was accompanied by the first photos of the centrifuges.
This is a rare glimpse into North Korea’s nuclear program, which is banned by UN Security Council resolutions.
Photos show Kim walking between long rows of metal centrifuges, the machines that enrich uranium. The report did not say when the visit took place or disclose the location of the facility.
Kim urged workers to produce more material for tactical nuclear weapons, saying North Korea’s nuclear arsenal was vital to countering threats from the US and its allies.
Atomic weapons are needed for “self-defense and the ability to strike pre-emptively,” he said.
The North Korean leader said “nuclear threats against North Korea” from “vassal forces led by US imperialists” had crossed a red line, the report said.
South Korea has condemned the discovery of a North Korean uranium enrichment facility and will never accept that Pyongyang has nuclear weapons, the South’s Unification Ministry said.
Uranium is a radioactive element that exists in nature. In the production of nuclear fuel, raw uranium goes through processes that result in material with an increased concentration of the uranium-235 isotope.
