Major concerns about the reactor in North Korea: will Kim Jong Un have the next atomic bomb built here?

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According to the Ministry of Defense, South Korea is paying increasing attention to a recently decommissioned North Korean nuclear reactor. “South Korean and US intelligence agencies are closely monitoring movements in this area,” Defense Ministry spokesman Jeon Ha-Kyou told reporters on Thursday.

The South Korean newspaper Donga Ilbo reported, based on intelligence sources in Seoul and Washington, that North Korea’s Yongbyon reactor was temporarily closed at the end of September. This move could therefore be an indication that spent fuel rods would be reprocessed to produce weapons-grade plutonium.

The status of nuclear energy is enshrined in the constitution

Yongbyon is located about 100 kilometers north of Pyongyang. The facility houses the country’s first nuclear reactor. It is the only known source of possible plutonium production for North Korea’s banned weapons program.

Last week, Pyongyang enshrined its status as a nuclear weapons power in the constitution. Leader Kim Jong Un, 39, argued that North Korea needed the nuclear weapons to prevent an existential threat from the US and its allies.

Despite international sanctions, North Korea has already conducted numerous missile tests this year, raising tensions with South Korea. Kim also repeatedly threatened military escalation in the region and announced he would “exponentially” expand his own nuclear arsenal.

When will Kim test the nuclear weapon?

Washington and Seoul have been warning for months that North Korea is developing tactical nuclear warheads and could test a nuclear weapon in the near future. It would be the first such test since 2017.

In a report published this year, the Congressional Research Service cited outside estimates that North Korea already has enough material for “20 to 60 nuclear warheads.” North Korea is actively working to develop smaller warheads for various delivery systems, the report said. (AFP)

Source: Blick