SEOUL, June 4 (Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for an ‘exponential’ expansion of the country’s atomic arsenal during a visit to a newly operational nuclear material production plant, North Korean state news agency KCNA reported on Thursday.
Kim said the production capacity of weapons-grade nuclear material has reached more than double its previous level over the past five years and instructed authorities to further increase production to meet long-term strategic goals.
During the visit, he was briefed on new production processes that incorporate more advanced technology and reviewed current production targets and future plans, KCNA reported.
Photographs published by state media showed Kim walking between rows of cylinder-shaped equipment inside the facility, which some analysts said could indicate the site is the country’s main nuclear complex in Yongbyon.
Kim said the expansion is necessary due to what he called worsening security threats and the long-term confrontation with ‘the fiercest enemies’ and reaffirmed the country’s policy of enhancing its nuclear deterrence.
KCNA said an important consultative meeting on strengthening nuclear forces was held on the same day, at which Kim outlined guidelines for accelerating the qualitative and quantitative expansion of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal.
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The country has defined the sequence and safeguards for the execution of an ‘ambitious future plan designed to reinforce our state’s nuclear forces at an exponential rate,’ Kim said, according to KCNA.
This is a ‘historic event that has set a historic milestone in the rapid upgrade of our nuclear capabilities,’ he added.
(Reporting by Kyu-seok Shim; Additional reporting by Heejin Kim, Brenda Goh and Tiffany Le)
