North Korea is believed to have amassed a large stockpile of weapons-grade uranium, with assessments suggesting Pyongyang could possess enough material for dozens of nuclear bombs. South Korea’s Unification Minister Chung Dong-young on Thursday said an assessment indicated that North Korea holds 2000kg of highly enriched uranium at a purity of 90 per cent or higher. Such a quantity would mark a significant increase in the country’s nuclear material reserves.

Chung said Pyongyang was operating multiple enrichment plants. “Even at this very hour, North Korea’s uranium centrifuges are operating at four sites,” he said, mentioning only the known site of Yongbyon, which North Korea had decommissioned after talks but reactivated in 2021.