North Korea Releases Photos of Secret Facility: 'Show of Force Ahead of US Elections'

It is not clear whether the facility is located at North Korea's main nuclear complex in Yongbyon, but it is Pyongyang's first disclosure of the uranium enrichment facility since it was shown to American scientists in 2010, AP notes.

“While the latest disclosure is likely an attempt to put more pressure on the U.S. and its allies, photos of the area released by North Korean media could prove valuable to outsiders in estimating the number of nuclear weapons components North Korea has produced,” the Associated Press reported.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited the Nuclear Weapons Institute and a plant producing nuclear materials for military purposes, the official KCNA news agency reported on Friday, without specifying when the visit took place.

Kim Jong-un has become familiar with the production of nuclear warheads and fissile materials for military purposes and – as Korean media write – has outlined a plan for the development of North Korea's nuclear industry working for military needs, which includes increasing the number and efficiency of devices for the production of enriched uranium.

During the visit, Kim repeatedly expressed “great satisfaction with North Korea's miraculous technical strength in the field of nuclear energy,” the official Korean Central News Agency reported. KCNA said Kim visited the control room of a uranium enrichment plant and a construction site that will boost its ability to produce nuclear weapons.

According to the North Korean leader, the expansion of production capacity in this area should occur in “geometric progression” due to the “growing threat of nuclear attack from the United States and its satellites”. Kim Jong-un also emphasized that the security of his country requires constant response to threats and containment of the US. To this end, in his opinion, it is necessary to constantly increase defense capabilities and the ability to carry out a preventive attack, because “nuclear threats against North Korea from the vassal forces led by the American imperialists have become less hidden and have crossed the red line,” KCNA reported.

Photos released by North Korean media show Kim surrounded by scientists, walking along long rows of centrifuges.

We will never accept Pyongyang's possession of nuclear weapons, their development threatens peace on the Korean Peninsula and the world, the South Korean Unification Ministry said on Friday, commenting on North Korean media reports showing for the first time local uranium enrichment plants.

“While we will not speculate on the likelihood of a nuclear test, … any nuclear threat or provocation by North Korea will be met with an overwhelming and forceful response from our government and military, based on the solid extended deterrence of the South Korean-U.S. alliance,” ministry spokesman Ku Byong Sam told a news briefing.

Pyongyang “must also clearly recognize that under no circumstances will we or the international community tolerate North Korea possessing nuclear weapons,” Ku added.

North Korea's disclosure on Friday of a military-grade uranium enrichment facility is being seen as “a show of force 50 days before the U.S. presidential election and an attempt to raise the stakes in the next round of negotiations with Washington,” South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.

South Korean President Jun Suk Jeol’s office said it was reviewing North Korea’s “intentions” behind the decision to show the facilities. A senior official at the office was quoted by Yonhap as saying that “all possibilities (of a nuclear weapons test) are being closely monitored by U.S. and South Korean intelligence agencies.”

North Korea last conducted an underground nuclear test in 2017. In a speech Monday to mark the 76th anniversary of the founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Kim Jong-un announced a significant increase in its nuclear arsenal to make the country fully ready to fight the United States and its allies.

On Thursday, Japan's Defense Ministry said North Korea had fired several ballistic missiles, at least two of which flew 350 km at a maximum altitude of 100 km. The North Korean military has conducted 10 tests of nuclear-capable missiles this year. The last one was on July 1, when the North fired two ballistic missiles

Last week, the North Korean dictator warned that South Korea and United States will have to pay a “high price” for “provocative military exercises,” as he described the annual summer military exercises of the two countries codenamed Ulchi Freedom Shield.