Seoul Analyzing N. Korea's Uranium Enrichment Site Disclosure
Date
9/13/2024 6:04:40 AM
(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA))
TOKYO, Sept 13 (KUNA) -- South Korea is trying to figure out North Korea's intentions behind its disclosure of an uranium enrichment facility for the first time, Yonhap News Agency reported Friday, citing the presidential office.
"We are trying to figure out the North's intentions behind the disclosure while monitoring and analyzing the overall situation in North Korea," a senior presidential official was quoted as saying. "The timing of a nuclear test can be different depending on the North Korean leadership's decision," the official said.
"With all possibilities in mind, South Korean and US intelligence authorities are closely tracking" the North, he added.
Earlier in the day, the North's state media revealed that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un recently visited a uranium enrichment base and called for increasing the number of centrifuges for uranium enrichment in order to increase its nuclear weapons for self-defense.
Kim made the call during a visit to the Nuclear Weapons Institute and the "production base of weapon-grade nuclear materials," the Korean Central News Agency said. The dispatch did not release the location of the facility or date of the visit.
It marks the first time North Korea has publicly revealed details of its uranium enrichment facility. The disclosure has sparked concern that it could be a precursor to Pyongyang conducting what would be its seventh nuclear test, according to the report.
The South Korean government strongly condemned North Korea for publicizing its uranium enrichment facility, calling the illegal development of nuclear weapons a clear violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions. Pyongyang last conducted an underground nuclear test in 2017. (end)
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