Pompeo accused North Korea of secretly enriching uranium
16 July, 2018
The Yomiuri Shimbun U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused North Korea of operating secret facilities for the enrichment of uranium when he met senior North Korean official Kim Yong Chol during his July 6-7 visit to the country, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
The U.S. top diplomat’s move appears to underscore Washington’s increasing suspicion that Pyongyang is covertly proceeding with activities that are contrary to denuclearization, despite its declared commitment to the goal.
It also raises the possibility that even if North Korea starts the process of denuclearization, the alleged existence of secret facilities will become an issue during the declaration and verification phases.
According to sources knowledgeable about Japan-U.S-South Korea trilateral talks, Pompeo said at his meeting with the vice chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea that Pyongyang was enhancing the production of enriched uranium and also concealing nuclear-related facilities and nuclear warheads.
Citing information that construction activities are under way at a missile plant at Hamhung in the northeastern province of South Hamgyong to expand the facility, Pompeo stressed that this was not beneficial to U.S.-North Korean relations.
The actual state of North Korea’s production of enriched uranium has not been ascertained, except for a lone previously acknowledged facility at Yongbyon in the nation’s northwestern region. The existence of the Yongbyon enrichment site was disclosed to a U.S. nuclear expert in 2010.
Together with plutonium, highly enriched uranium is a key ingredient in the making of nuclear bombs.
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