North Korea rapidly building nukes capable of hitting Washington and New York

The advancement in North Korean nuclear weapons comes at a time when the topic of nuclear warfare is rife amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East over nuclear capabilities

The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog has said that North Korea has made “very serious” progress in its ability to produce nuclear weapons.

This comes at a time when the topic of nuclear warfare is rife amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East over what the US says is a result of Iranian nuclear capabilities.

North Korea is believed to have assembled about 50 nuclear warheads, but some experts are sceptical of its claims that it is able to miniaturise them to be attached to long-range ballistic missiles, the Guardian reported.

Speaking during a visit to the South Korean capital, Seoul, on Wednesday, April 15, Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi confirmed reports of a rapid rise in activity at the country’s main nuclear complex, Yongbyon.

He said work had intensified at Yongbyon’s 5MW reactor, reprocessing unit, light water reactor and other facilities. North Korea is believed to possess several dozen nuclear warheads.

Since conducting its first nuclear test two decades ago, the regime has acquired what some experts say is a workable nuclear capability that includes intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the US mainland.

Under leader Kim Jong Un, the country has ramped up its nuclear weapons programme in defiance of UN sanctions.

Observers view this as attempt to reduce the likelihood that it could one day be a target for regime change by the US.

Grossi’s comments came as a US thinktank said North Korea appeared to have completed a building intended for uranium enrichment at the nuclear complex.

Beyond Parallel, at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said this week that satellite imagery indicated the new facility was nearing operational readiness, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.

The thinktank said the suspected new enrichment facility at Yongbyon and another at a site in Kangson near the capital Pyongyang had not been declared to international nuclear authorities.

It said production of enriched uranium “would significantly increase the number of nuclear weapons North Korea could possess”.

The report matched an assessment issued by the IAEA in June last year in which it said the regime was building an enrichment facility at Yongbyon that could be used to produce weapons-grade material.

In March, Grossi said there was no evidence of “significant change” at the North’s main nuclear testing site at Punggye-ri, but added that it was still capable of supporting nuclear tests.

He called North Korea’s nuclear programme a “clear violation” of UN security council resolutions.

He also said that the agency “continues to maintain its enhanced readiness to play its essential role in verifying [North Korea’s] nuclear programme”.

The country has not conducted a nuclear test since 2017, but it has demonstrated advances in its missile technology and increased its stockpile of weapons. This is in line with Kim’s comments last August to pursue a “rapid expansion of nuclearisation”.

Diplomatic efforts to rein in North Korea’s nuclear ambitions have faltered after unsuccessful summits between Kim and US President Donald Trump during his first term and a deterioration in ties between the regime and neighbouring South Korea.