Satellite images indicate North Korea may be close to completing a new reactor in its major nuclear complex in Yongbyon, according to 38 North, a Washington-based website that tracks events in the country.
Construction crews are working on a support building at the site’s Experimental Light Water Reactor (ELWR) development and water discharges have been spotted near the ELWR’s pump house that could be associated with testing of the reactor’s cooling system, the website said, suggesting the ELWR “is nearing a transition to operational status”. Stirred Tank
The images also indicated a five-megawatt reactor at Yongbyon continued to operate and new construction had started around the site’s uranium enrichment plant, likely to expand its capabilities.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited a facility producing nuclear bombs earlier this week and reiterated his order to massively expand the North’s nuclear arsenal. Kim said North Korea is ready to use nuclear weapons “anytime and anywhere,” the official Korean Central News Agency reported. His visit to the facility came as the nation carried out series of weapon tests including ballistic missiles designed to deliver a nuclear warhead.
The Yongbyon site’s existing 5 MWe reactor has been running since July 2021 and commercial satellite images from March show there’s new construction for the reactor’s spent fuel storage building, according to 38 North.
“Together, these developments seem to reflect Kim Jong-un’s recent directive to increase the country’s fissile material production to expand its nuclear weapons arsenal,” the website said.
Experts said the potential tactical nuclear weapons did indeed show key signs of technical progress, and could indicate an imminent nuclear test.
Officials in Seoul and Washington have warned since early 2022 that North Korea may conduct its seventh nuclear test.
The US and South Korea have ramped up joint military drills as North Korea conducts ever more provocative weapons tests while blaming the South for the deteriorating security situation.
A commentary carried by the North’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Sunday slammed the series of joint drills by the allies, warning of its “nuclear attack capability”.
“It will be quite clear how the DPRK’s nukes will be used if the war deterrence does not work on those who are running amok, not being afraid of nuclear weapons,” it said.
The North Korean military has carried out multiple drills in recent weeks, including the test-firing of what state media described as an underwater nuclear-capable drone and the second launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile this year.
Last year, North Korea declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear power, while in March, Kim ordered the North Korean military to intensify drills in preparation for a “real war”.
Meanwhile, North Korea’s Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of Kim Jong-un, accused Ukraine of calling for nuclear weapons, state media KCNA reported on Saturday, basing her assertion on an online petition in that country that has drawn under 1,000 signatures so far.
Kim said this kind of petition could be a political plot by President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, but did not provide any evidence for the assertion.
Following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement last week that Moscow plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, a public petition was filed to the Ukrainian presidential office’s website on Thursday, calling for Ukraine to host nuclear weapons on Ukrainian territory, or for it to be armed with its own nuclear weapons.
By Saturday afternoon, the petition had gained only 611 signatures, far short of the 25,000 needed for a response from Zelensky. Kyiv officials have not commented on the petition so far.
North Korea is forging closer ties with Kremlin amid shared isolation by the West and it supported Moscow’s position after Russia invaded Ukraine last year, including its later proclaimed annexation of parts of Ukraine that most UN members condemned as illegal. It has denied providing arms to Moscow.
Reactor Stirred Tank Reporting by Agence France-Presse, Bloomberg, Reuters