North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited a newly inaugurated nuclear materials production facility, state media reported Thursday. This photo shows a new ICBM during a military parade in Pyongyang on October 10, 2025. File Photo by KCNA/EPA
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited a newly inaugurated nuclear materials production facility and vowed to continue rapidly expanding Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal, state media reported Thursday.
“We have confirmed the order of priority for implementing the ambitious future plan designed to beef up our state’s nuclear forces at an exponential rate,” Kim said while touring the facility Wednesday, the official Korean Central News Agency reported.
The North Korean leader called the opening a “historic event that has set up an epochal milestone in rapidly upgrading our nuclear capabilities.”
The report did not reveal the facility’s location or other details. North Korea is believed to operate enrichment plants at three sites — Yongbyon, Kangson and Kusong. Photos released by state media showed Kim walking with officials between rows of cylindrical centrifuges used to enrich uranium.
Kim said the country’s weapons-grade nuclear material production capacity had more than doubled over the past five years, attributing the gains to advances made by North Korean nuclear scientists.
“Potential threats and unpredictable long-term crises further highlight the urgency and responsibility of the historic mission to bolster up … the nuclear war deterrent,” Kim said.
Kim added that the expanded production capacity and advances in nuclear technology had created conditions for a “new next-stage” buildup of the North’s nuclear forces.
In March, the International Atomic Energy Agency said it was monitoring construction of a new building at North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear complex that appeared intended to expand uranium enrichment activities.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said the structure was “externally complete and internal fitting is likely underway,” suggesting additional enrichment capacity.
Kim has frequently called the country’s nuclear status “irreversible,” and Pyongyang amended its constitution to codify the expansion of its nuclear forces.
Last month, North Korea’s U.N. envoy said the country was not bound by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, reiterating Pyongyang’s long-standing position after withdrawing from the pact in 2003.
In a 2025 report, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimated that North Korea possesses about 50 nuclear warheads and has enough fissile material for about 40 more. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said in January that North Korea was producing enough weapons-grade material to build between 10 and 20 nuclear weapons annually.
Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff on Thursday declined to provide details about the new facility, saying the information was “restricted.”
“South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities are continuously tracking and monitoring trends related to North Korea’s nuclear facilities in close cooperation,” JCS spokesman Jang Do-young said at a regular press briefing.
