Kim Jong-un Inspects New Nuclear Material Production Facility and Orders Continued Expansion of Nuclear Forces

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited a newly launched nuclear material production facility on June 3 and directed officials to accelerate the expansion of the country's nuclear forces. State media reported that Kim was accompanied by key party officials during the inspection.

Seoul's defense ministry assessed the site as a uranium enrichment plant, the third such facility disclosed after Yongbyon, Kangson and Kusong.

Kim said the country's weapons-grade nuclear material production capacity more than doubled over the past five years and credited the gains to nuclear scientists. He added that potential threats and unpredictable long-term crises require expanding the nuclear deterrent in both quality and quantity on a sustained and accelerated basis.

The same day, North Korea held an important consultative meeting on bolstering nuclear forces.

Kim issued action guidelines for rapidly accelerating the qualitative and quantitative buildup and said Pyongyang had confirmed the order of priority for a plan to strengthen its nuclear forces at an exponential rate. Photos released by the Korean Central News Agency showed rows of cylindrical centrifuges inside the facility.

Another image showed documents believed to be related to the nuclear weapons program on a table where Kim was seated, with some text blurred.

At the meeting Kim said the country had updated the digits critical for its nuclear activities and called the session a historic event that set an epochal milestone in rapidly upgrading nuclear capabilities. The visit marked the third reported inspection by Kim of a nuclear facility, following trips in September 2024 and January 2025.

Unification Minister Chung Dong-yong said North Korea had been operating four nuclear enrichment sites and was estimated to possess up to 2,000 kg of highly enriched uranium at 90 percent purity or higher.

He noted that 10 to 12 kg of uranium is enough to produce one bomb. At a key party congress in February, Pyongyang reaffirmed its status as an irreversible nuclear-armed state and pledged to further strengthen its nuclear deterrent under a five-year military modernization plan.

In September 2024, North Korea disclosed its uranium enrichment facility for the first time and called for increasing the number of centrifuges.