North Korea has up to 2 tonnes (4,409 pounds) of highly enriched uranium and is making more all the time, underscoring the importance of reviving negotiations to stop the nuclear program, a South Korean government minister has told media.
Why It Matters
North Korea’s U.N.-sanctioned nuclear weapons program is a major source of tension with the United States, but leader Kim Jong Un has ruled out denuclearization, and has instead called for the rapid expansion of the atomic arsenal in the face of what he sees as threats from the United States and its Asian allies, South Korea and Japan.
Kim has said his country’s nuclear status is irreversible and while he is open to revival of negotiations with President Donald Trump, he said the issue of nuclear weapons is not up for discussion.
What To Know
South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young told a press conference that North Korea is presumed to possess up to 2,000 kilograms of highly enriched uranium and it is trying to dramatically expand its nuclear arsenal, local Yonhap news agency reported.
“It is urgent to stop [it]. Even at this very hour, uranium centrifuges in four areas are running to accumulate nuclear materials,” said the minister, who oversees relations with North Korea.
Chung suggested that the resumption of North Korea-U.S. talks could serve as a “breakthrough” in stalled efforts to denuclearize the country, Yonhap reported.
The amount of highly enriched uranium that Chung said the North is believed to possess, enough to make about 30 bombs of the same size as the one the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima, is in line with experts’ recent estimates.
The Institute for Science and International Security, for example, estimated in 2023 that North Korea had between 1,425 to 2,185 kilograms of weapons-grade uranium.
North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests since 2006.
Kim said in a speech to a parliamentary session on Saturday that he saw no reason not to negotiate with the United States if it dropped its demand that North Korea give up its nuclear weapons.
During Trump’s first term, he met Kim three times in a bid to press him to agree to denuclearize in exchange for sanctions relief, but the talks failed to produce any significant breakthroughs.
Since beginning his second term, Trump has said he would be open to reviving talks with Kim
What People Are Saying
Kim Jong Un, referring to his country by its official name, said on Saturday: “Even if the United States and its allies enthusiastically call for ‘denuclearization’ for 10, 20, 50, or even 100 years, the fact that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea possesses nuclear weapons will remain unchanged for them, whether they like it or not.”
President Donald Trump, referring to Kim, told reporters in the Oval Office on August 26: “I get along with him really well. I look forward to meeting with Kim Jong Un in the appropriate future.”
What Happens Next
Trump is due to travel to South Korea for an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting on October 31-November 1. His visit will put a spotlight on U.S. relations with North Korea and will raise speculation that he could meet Kim again on the Demilitarized Zone border between the two Koreas, as he did in 2019.