South Korea’s unification minister revealed Thursday that North Korea may possess up to two tonnes of highly enriched uranium, a material capable of fueling a vast nuclear arsenal.
For years, Pyongyang has been suspected of maintaining significant reserves of enriched uranium, the key ingredient for nuclear warheads. In a rare public confirmation, Minister Chung Dong-young said intelligence agencies estimate the stockpile at as much as 2,000 kilograms, enriched to more than 90 percent purity.
“Even at this very hour, North Korea’s uranium centrifuges are operating at four sites,” Chung told reporters.
He explained that only five to six kilograms of plutonium are needed to build a single nuclear bomb. By comparison, the estimated uranium stockpile could be redirected for plutonium production and yield what he described as “an enormous number of nuclear weapons.”
Chung stressed that halting North Korea’s nuclear program is an urgent priority. He dismissed sanctions as ineffective and argued that only direct talks between Pyongyang and Washington could provide a solution.
Earlier this week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signaled he was open to dialogue with the United States, but only if he could retain his nuclear arsenal.
North Korea carried out its first nuclear test in 2006 and remains under sweeping United Nations sanctions for its weapons programs. The country disclosed details of its uranium enrichment facility for the first time only last September.
Seoul’s intelligence service believes Pyongyang operates multiple enrichment sites, including one at the Yongbyon nuclear complex. Although North Korea once claimed to have decommissioned Yongbyon after negotiations, it reactivated the facility in 2021.
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