North Korea Unveils Uranium Enrichment Capabilities 

By Lexi Dean

On Friday North Korea shared photos showing Kim Jong Un with scientists and military personnel surrounded by centrifuges used to enrich uranium. An analyst for South Korea’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies estimated about one thousand centrifuges in the photos which is roughly the number needed to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for a bomb if operative year-round. Experts suggest the centrifuge room is likely part of one of North Korea’s two plants in Yongbyon and Kangson. The media source did not reveal when and where these photos took place, but it is unlikely they were revealing an unknown enrichment plant. The last time North Korea revealed anything about its uranium enrichment sites was in 2010 to U.S. officials and academics. Furthermore, resolutions from the United Nations Security Council to ban North Korea from developing nuclear weapons continue to be ignored. Kim has recently emphasized the expansion of its nuclear arsenal to counter what they perceive as U.S.-led threats. He has also emphasized the production of short-range ballistic missiles and more nuclear materials to make these shorter range tactical weapons. Kim stressed the need to increase the number of centrifuges and the use of a new type of centrifuge to strengthen the production of weapons. 

While the intention of these photos is unclear, some assume it is to show how advanced their enrichment capability is now, express their commitment to increasing its nuclear weapons arsenal, and to influence the U.S. and its allies. This posturing to match other powers on the world stage surfaces during a U.S. election year in which nuclear weapons and North Korea are critical policy issues being discussed. Kim may be sending a message to the next administration about North Korea as a nuclear state, according to a researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul. These photos hold a major significance amidst tensions rising between North Korea and South Korea and the Biden administration shifting U.S. nuclear strategy to focus on possible corresponding threats from China, Russia and North Korea. Nevertheless, North Korea’s progress in enriching uranium and emphasizing a focus on weapons is a major concern for adversaries and neighbors in East Asia.