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 factory, state media agency KCNA said.
Kim said production capacity for weapons-grade nuclear material had reached more than double its previous level over the past five years and instructed officials to further increase output to meet long-term strategic goals.
During the visit, he was briefed on new production processes incorporating more advanced technology and reviewed current output targets and future plans, KCNA reported.
State media photographs showed Kim walking through a facility lined with rows of cylinder-shaped equipment. Some analysts suggested the images indicate the site may be located at North Korea’s main nuclear complex in Yongbyon.
Kim said the expansion was necessary given what he called worsening security threats and long-term confrontation with "the most ferocious enemies" and reaffirmed the country’s policy of increasing its nuclear deterrence.
This is a "historic event that has set up an epochal milestone in rapidly upgrading our nuclear capabilities," he added.
The nuclear facility North Korea unveiled on Thursday was a uranium-enrichment site, an official at South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said at a briefing in Seoul.
Analysts said Kim's visit appeared aimed at reinforcing North Korea’s negotiating position ahead of potential diplomatic engagement while justifying an acceleration of its nuclear build-up.
Chad O’Carroll, founder of NK News, said Kim’s visit may be linked to a potential trip by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Pyongyang. He noted that before visiting Beijing in September 2025, Kim reviewed plans for the new Hwasong-20 intercontinental ballistic missile.
"The logic would be to demonstrate absolutely that denuclearisation is not possible, right on the eve of contact with the PRC," O’Carroll said, using China's formal name, the People's Republic of China.
Lim Eul-chul, a professor at South Korea’s Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies, also linked Kim’s latest visit to Seoul’s pursuit of a nuclear-powered submarine and its talks with Washington over uranium enrichment rights.
North Korea is estimated to possess around 50 nuclear warheads, according to international assessments, though it has never disclosed the size of its arsenal.
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Start your day informed with the AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top stories for 24 June, covering the latest developments you need to know.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered the construction of two new 5,000-tonne warships every year over the next five years, signalling one of the country’s most ambitious naval expansion plans to date.
South Korea has announced it will accept North Korean prisoners of war captured by Ukrainian forces while fighting for Russia if they wish to relocate to the South, citing international law and opposition to forced repatriation.
At least thirteen people have died and sixty-six have been injured following an explosion at Qatar's main liquefied natural gas (LNG) processing hub at Ras Laffan, authorities said on Sunday.
Tehran has agreed to let the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recommence inspections of its nuclear programme, U.S. Vice President JD Vance has said. The U.S. and Iran have settled on a 60-day roadmap aimed at reaching a final deal, according to mediators Qatar and Pakistan.
A Ukrainian strike has damaged a school building in a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, according to local authorities cited by the TASS news agency. No injuries were reported in the incident.
U.S. President Donald Trump said that Iran had agreed to nuclear inspections into "infinity, despite Tehran's denials, and that unfrozen Iranian assets would be used to buy humanitarian supplies from the United States.
Iran’s parliamentary speaker said on Wednesday regional countries alone should determine the Middle East’s political and security order, rejecting external involvement and calling for expanded intra-regional cooperation.
France has confirmed its first Ebola case linked to the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo after a doctor returning from a humanitarian mission tested positive for the virus, the health ministry said on Wednesday (24 June).
Ukraine said its forces had struck key energy installations inside Russia, including a gas processing plant and a helium facility in the Orenburg region, as drone assaults increased across multiple areas.
Critical minerals are becoming a key battleground in the growing economic rivalry between the G7 and China, as governments seek to secure supplies vital to the energy transition and advanced manufacturing.
An unusual weather pattern known as an omega block is at the heart of the extreme heat sweeping across Europe. The phenomenon can trap hot air over the same region for days or even weeks, allowing temperatures to climb to dangerous levels.
Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo have surpassed 1,000, with health officials warning that the outbreak is spreading rapidly through displacement camps and across borders.
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