Satellite imagery showed a high level of activity at North Korea’s main nuclear facility, the research center said after the country’s leader Kim Jong-un called on Tuesday to boost production of “military nuclear materials.” between March 3 and 17 indicates that construction of the light water reactor at Yongbyon is “nearing completion”.
The intellectual organization’s report states that the images show that construction of the building has begun and that the water from the cooling system has been drained, indicating that the reactor is being prepared for “operation”.
He added that the 5-megawatt reactor at Yongbyon continues to operate, and new construction work has begun around the on-site uranium enrichment plant, which will likely increase its capacity.
38 North said, “These developments seem to reflect Kim Jong-un’s recent directive to increase the production of fissile materials to strengthen his nuclear arsenal.”
On Tuesday, North Korean state media released photos showing Kim inspecting a number of small warheads that appear to be tactical nuclear warheads. He called for an increase in the production of “military nuclear materials” in order to “significantly” increase the production of nuclear weapons.
Experts believe that tactical nuclear weapons indicate that North Korea is making technological progress, and it looks like the country is preparing for a seventh nuclear test.
In a related context, North Korea said Sunday that it was not talking “empty words” about its nuclear capabilities, adding that the United States and South Korea were acting “wrongly putting themselves in grave danger.” Korean state media.
North Korea’s central news agency has sharply criticized the ongoing joint military exercises between the two allies and their plans to hold massive live-fire exercises in June.
“The desperate actions of the warmongers are going to the extreme,” she said in a comment. She mentioned the Freedom Shield exercise, which lasted 11 days last March.
“Their military hysteria reaches its climax with the start of joint landing exercises in Ssangyeong,” she added.
South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that Exercise Ssangyong, or “Double Dragon”, the first major joint allied landing exercise in five years, began on March 20. It is scheduled to end on Monday.
North Korea’s central news agency also took issue with the two sides’ plan to hold the largest-ever joint “destructive firepower exercise” in history in June to celebrate the 70th anniversary of their union.
Since early 2022, Seoul and Washington have been warning North Korea against conducting new nuclear tests.
The two allied nations have stepped up their joint military exercises, and Pyongyang continues to conduct missile tests, blaming Seoul for causing regional security deterioration.
Today, Sunday, the official Korea Central News Agency denounced a series of joint exercises conducted by Washington and Seoul, warning of North Korea’s “nuclear attack potential”.
The North Korean military, which has stepped up military exercises in recent weeks, said on Tuesday it had conducted a second test of what it called “an unmarried submarine nuclear attack mechanism.”
In 2022, Pyongyang reaffirmed that its status as a nuclear power is “irreversible” and this month the North Korean leader ordered his army to step up military exercises for “real war.”
