North Korea’s Uranium Stockpile Alarms Seoul
Seoul Warns of North Korea’s Expanding Uranium Stockpile
SEOUL – South Korea has issued a rare public warning over North Korea’s growing nuclear capabilities, revealing new intelligence about Pyongyang’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young told reporters that intelligence agencies estimate North Korea holds up to 2,000 kilograms of uranium enriched to more than 90 percent purity — the level required for building nuclear weapons.
“Even at this very hour, North Korea’s uranium centrifuges are operating at four sites,” Chung said. He explained that as little as five to six kilograms of plutonium is enough to make a single nuclear bomb, while North Korea’s uranium stockpile could potentially yield “an enormous number” of warheads.
Chung emphasized the urgency of halting Pyongyang’s nuclear program but stressed that sanctions alone would not work. Instead, he called for direct talks between Washington and Pyongyang as the only viable solution.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signaled this week that he is open to negotiations with the United States, but only on the condition that he is allowed to keep his nuclear arsenal.
North Korea conducted its first nuclear test in 2006 and remains under heavy UN sanctions for its weapons programs. The country has not traditionally revealed details of its uranium enrichment activities, but last year confirmed the existence of such facilities. South Korea’s intelligence agency believes multiple enrichment plants are in operation, including the one at Yongbyon, which Pyongyang once promised to dismantle but later reactivated in 2021.
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