Kim Jong-un shown in first photos of uranium enrichment site

Seoul: North Korea has for the first time unveiled the centrifuges that it says produce fuel for its nuclear bombs, as leader Kim Jong-un visited a uranium enrichment facility and called for more weapons-grade material to boost the country’s arsenal.

The state media report on Kim’s visit to the Nuclear Weapons Institute and a production base for weapon-grade nuclear materials was accompanied by the first photos of the centrifuges, providing a rare look inside North Korea’s nuclear program, which is banned under multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Kim Jong-un, centre, on an inspecting visit at what they say is an institute of nuclear weapons and a facility for nuclear materials at an undisclosed location in North Korea. Credit: AP

The undated photos showed Kim walking between long rows of metal centrifuges, the machines that enrich uranium.

Kim urged workers to produce more materials for tactical nuclear weapons, saying the country’s nuclear arsenal was vital for confronting threats from the United States and its allies.

The weapons are needed for “self-defence and the capability for a preemptive attack,” he said.

North Korea is believed to have several sites for enriching uranium. Analysts say commercial satellite imagery has shown construction in recent years at the main Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Centre, suggesting possible expansion.

Uranium is a radioactive element that exists naturally. To make nuclear fuel, raw uranium undergoes processes that result in a material with an increased concentration of the isotope uranium-235.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said earlier the UN nuclear watchdog had observed activity consistent with the operation of a reactor and the reported centrifuge enrichment facility at Yongbyon.

A TV screen shows an image of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea.Credit: AP

Kim stressed the need to increase the number of centrifuges so as to “exponentially increase” the arsenal, and expand use of a new type of centrifuge to increase production of weapon-grade nuclear materials.

The new type of centrifuge shows North Korea is advancing its fuel cycle capabilities, said Ankit Panda of the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“Kim also appears to suggest that North Korean tactical nuclear weapons designs may primarily rely on uranium for their cores,” he said.

This is notable because the country is better able to scale up its highly enriched uranium stockpiles, Panda said, compared to the more complicated process for plutonium.

“It shows how advanced their enrichment capability has become and gives greater credibility to their ability to increasing their nuclear weapons arsenals.”

Jenny Town, Stimson Centre

North Korea invited some foreign scientists to view a centrifuge facility at Yongbyon in 2010, but Jenny Town of the US-based Stimson Centre said Friday’s report was the first and only photographs of the equipment.

“It shows how advanced their enrichment capability has become, which gives greater credibility to both their ability and commitment to increasing their nuclear weapons arsenals,” she said.

North Korea has previously shown photos of what it says were nuclear warheads. It has conducted six underground nuclear tests between 2006 and 2017.

Estimates of the number of North Korean nuclear weapons varies widely. In July a report by the Federation of American Scientists concluded that the country may have produced enough fissile material to build up to 90 nuclear warheads, but that it has likely assembled closer to 50.

Kim also oversaw the test launch of a new 600mm multiple launch rocket system on Thursday and visited an army training base on Wednesday, according to separate KCNA reports.

In a statement carried by KCNA, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry institute spokesperson criticised a recent defence ministerial meeting between member states of the U.S.-led United Nations Command in Seoul, calling it a “war organisation”.

Germany joined the command last month, becoming the 18th nation in a group that helps police the heavily fortified border with North Korea and has committed to defend the South in the event of a war.

Reuters