North Korea’s production of weapons grade nuclear material has more than doubled in the past five years, leader Kim Jong Un said Wednesday, vowing an “exponential” increase in military nuclear capabilities.
During a visit to a new nuclear material production facility, Kim said North Korea has confirmed an “ambitious future plan designed to beef up our state’s nuclear forces at an exponential rate,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported Thursday.
North Korea sees its nuclear arsenal as protection against attack from South Korea and US forces stationed there.
Of the planned increase, Kim said: “This signifies an amazing, successful change that is beyond rhetorical description, a historic event that has set up an epochal milestone in rapidly upgrading our nuclear capabilities.”
Rejecting pressure from the United States, North Korea insists it will not give up its nuclear arsenal, describing its path as “irreversible.”
Pyongyang withdrew from the Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1993 and has since conducted six nuclear tests, subjecting it to multiple United Nations resolutions, and is believed to possess dozens of nuclear warheads.
