North Korea’s rare revelation of its uranium enrichment facility is aimed at giving a clear message to the United States that the denuclearization of the North will be impossible, whoever wins the U.S. presidential election in November, experts said Friday.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called for boosting the number of centrifuges for uranium enrichment during his visit to the Nuclear Weapons Institute and the production base of weapon-grade nuclear materials, according to state media.

While looking around the control room of the uranium enrichment base, Kim stressed the need to produce nuclear materials in a bid to exponentially increase the number of nuclear weapons.

This photo, carried by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency on Sept. 13, 2024, shows the North’s leader Kim Jong-un (front, L) inspecting the Nuclear Weapons Institute and the production base of weapon-grade nuclear materials. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

It marked the first time t
hat North Korea’s state media has disclosed a uranium enrichment facility and related photos. The move came about 50 days before the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 5.

Experts said the North’s rare disclosure appears to be aimed at flaunting its nuclear capabilities and raising its bargaining chip for possible future negotiations with the U.S.

“Ahead of the U.S. election, North Korea is sending a message to the U.S. — don’t expect denuclearization of North Korea, as it is an impossible goal,” Cheong Seong-chang, a director at the Sejong Institute, said.

North Korea’s highly enriched uranium (HEU) program was a major “deal breaker” in its denuclearization talks with the U.S.

North Korea is believed to be operating uranium enrichment facilities at the Yongbyon nuclear complex and at a secret site in Kangson, just outside Pyongyang.

After the reclusive regime long denied its suspected HEU program, North Korea invited Siegfried Hecker, a renowned U.S. nuclear scientist, and showed its uranium enrichment
facility at Yongbyon in 2010.

In Friday’s media report, North Korea made public photos of what appears to be multiple cascades of centrifuges, without revealing the location of the uranium enrichment facility.

North Korea has been advancing its nuclear and missile programs, including the development of nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

In 2023, the country stipulated the policy of strengthening its nuclear force in the constitution, with repeated claims that its status as a nuclear state is “irreversible.”

Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said with the rare disclosure of the nuclear facility, North Korea seems to be sending a message to both the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates as a neck-and-neck race has been unfolding.

This photo, carried by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency on Sept. 13, 2024, shows the North’s leader Kim Jong-un (C) inspecting the Nuclear Weapons Institute and the production b
ase of weapon-grade nuclear materials. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her Republican rival, Donald Trump, held their first televised debate in Philadelphia on Tuesday. U.S. media outlets said voters who watched the debate assessed Harris had outperformed Trump.

North Korea is probably telling Harris that she should not follow U.S. President Joe Biden’s policy on North Korea, if elected, as the disclosure of a uranium enrichment facility points to a failure in Biden’s policy, Hong said.

Observers have voiced concerns that Trump, if reelected, could seek nuclear disarmament negotiations with North Korea or a freeze in Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal, instead of denuclearization talks. Against this backdrop, North Korea seems to be highlighting the need for nuclear disarmament talks as a realistic option.

The North’s leader Kim and then U.S. President Trump held summit talks in Hanoi in February 2019, but it ended with no de
al. Kim reportedly rejected Trump’s demand to negotiate not only the Yongbyon nuclear complex but also other uranium enrichment sites, including one in Kangson, in exchange for sanctions relief.

“For North Korea, the revealing of a uranium enrichment facility would be the most effective card to greatly affect the U.S. presidential election, without carrying out a nuclear test,” Hong said.

He said it would be difficult for North Korea to press ahead with the seventh nuclear test as it would be too risky in the current geopolitical situation.

North Korea last carried out an underground nuclear test in 2017.

Experts said North Korea is widely expected to stage major provocations in the run-up to the U.S. election, including ICBM launches.

South Korea’s unification ministry strongly condemned North Korea for publicizing its uranium enrichment facility, and warned that the North will face an overwhelming and strong response if it poses a nuclear threat or stages provocations.

Source: Yonhap News Agency