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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected a facility that produces nuclear material and called for bolstering the country’s nuclear fighting capability, state media reported Wednesday, as the North looks to increase pressure on the United States following the inauguration of President Donald Trump.
Kim’s visit suggests a continued emphasis on an expansion of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal, though Trump has said he’s willing to talk to Kim again to revive diplomacy. Many analysts view North Korean weapons moves as part of a strategy to win sanctions relief and political concessions from the United States.
The official Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim visited the nuclear-material production base and the Nuclear Weapons Institute.
It didn’t say where those facilities are located, but North Korean photos of Kim’s visit indicated that he likely visited a uranium enrichment facility that he went to last September.
That visit was North Korea’s first disclosure of a uranium enrichment facility since it showed one to visiting American scholars in 2010.
During the latest visit, Kim said North Korea reported “amazing” results in its production of nuclear material last year and underlined the need to exceed this year’s production goal to strengthen “the nuclear shield of the country,” according to KCNA.
Kim said that further boosting the country’s nuclear counteraction posture is “our invariable noble task” to cope with intensifying challenges posed by “hostile forces,” an apparent reference to the US and South Korea.
The start of Trump’s second term raises prospects for the resumption of diplomacy between the United States and North Korea, as Trump met Kim three times during his first term.
The Trump-Kim diplomacy in 2018-19 fell apart due to wrangling over US-led economic sanctions on North Korea, and Kim has since significantly dialed up weapons testing activities.
During a Fox News interview broadcast Thursday, Trump called Kim “a smart guy” and “not a religious zealot.” Asked whether he will reach out to Kim again, Trump replied, “I will, yeah.”
North Korea hasn’t yet directly responded to Trump’s overture as it continues its belligerent rhetoric against the US along with weapons testing activities.
Many experts say Kim could eventually sit down for talks with Trump and would likely think he now has greater leverage than before because of his enlarged nuclear arsenal and deepening military ties with Russia.
On Sunday, North Korea said it tested a cruise missile system, its third known weapons display this year, and vowed “the toughest” response to what it called the escalation of US-South Korean military drills.
North Korea views US military training with South Korea as invasion rehearsals, though Washington and Seoul have repeatedly said their drills are defensive in nature.
In recent years, the United States and South Korea have expanded their military exercises in response to North Korea’s advancing nuclear program.
During the September visit to the uranium enrichment facility, Kim stressed the need to further augment the number of centrifuges to “exponentially” build more nuclear weapons.
North Korea first unveiled a uranium enrichment site at its main Yongbyon nuclear complex to a visiting delegation of American scholars in 2010.
Many experts say the uranium enrichment facility disclosed in September was likely a different place from the one shown to the US scholars.
Nuclear weapons can be built using either highly enriched uranium or plutonium, and North Korea has a facility at Yongbyon to produce weapons-grade plutonium as well.
Estimates of how many nuclear bombs North Korea can add every year vary, ranging from six to as many as 18.
In 2018, a top South Korean official told parliament that North Korea was estimated to have already manufactured 20 to 60 nuclear weapons, but some experts say the North likely has more than 100.
