Kim Jong Un’s latest flaunt: A secret nuclear site now shown in public
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. SEOUL—With his ties with Russia strengthening, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un no longer feels the need to hide one of his top-secret nuclear facilities from the outside world. Photos run Friday in North Korean state media showed Kim strolling past rows of metal centrifuges—machines that enrich uranium—with officials by his side.
He conducted an on-site inspection of the country’s Nuclear Weapons Institute and the uranium-enrichment base. The 40-year-old dictator also demanded an exponential increase in the country’s nuclear arsenal. The brazenness shows how little Kim fears attracting international blowback over his sanctions-violating nuclear program.
In recent months, North Korea has test-fired weapons and showcased new nuclear-capable missile launchers. Pyongyang knows it has Moscow’s veto at the United Nations Security Council to protect it from punishment. North Korea’s relations with Russia have flourished since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as the two isolated countries aligned over distrust of the U.S.-led world order.
Russian soldiers are firing North Korea-supplied missiles in Ukraine, according to assessments from Washington, Seoul and Kyiv. During Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Pyongyang in June, the two countries signed a mutual defense treaty. Putin said at the time he wouldn’t rule out offering military-technical cooperation to Pyongyang.
Underscoring that growing closeness: The photos’ release came on the same day Kim met with Sergei Shoigu, the head of Russia’s Security Council, in Pyongyang. North Korea first openly acknowledged its uranium-enrichment program in 2009, following many years of denials. But never before had the country published
. Read more on livemint.com
