A top official from South Korea has shared some worrying news. He believes North Korea might have as much as two tons of highly enriched uranium. This is a massive amount. It’s enough to build a huge number of nuclear weapons.
Chung Dong-young, the South Korean Unification Minister, revealed these figures. South Korean intelligence agencies have confirmed this information. He pointed out the serious nature of the situation. He said that just five or six kilograms of plutonium can make a nuclear bomb. So, two thousand kilograms of enriched uranium could create “a huge number of nuclear weapons.”
The minister explained that North Korea’s four uranium enrichment plants are still active. He believes stopping North Korea’s nuclear program is very urgent. However, he also thinks sanctions won’t work. Instead, he sees a summit between North Korea and the United States as the only real solution. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has hinted he is open to talks with the U.S. in the past. But he insists on keeping his country’s nuclear arsenal.
North Korea first tested a nuclear device in 2006. This led to strict sanctions from the United Nations Security Council. For a long time, North Korea kept details about its uranium enrichment facilities a secret. They did not make this information public until recently, in September.
South Korean intelligence believes North Korea has several uranium enrichment sites. One of them is the Yongbyon Nuclear Center. This facility was shut down after earlier peace talks. But it was restarted in 2021, showing their continued efforts in this area.
Source: AFP