The South Korean military estimates that North Korea has about 70 kilograms of plutonium, enough to make more than 10 atomic bombs, according to the Defense White Paper released in Seoul today.
The calculation is higher than the 50 kilos of plutonium estimated by the country’s defense authorities, in the previous edition of the book.
The Defense White Paper, which is published every two years, also mentions, without further details, that the ‘stock’ of highly enriched uranium is “considerable”.
The analysis highlights the North Korean regime’s progress in developing long-range solid-fuel ballistic missiles.
Currently, Pyongyang operates only three medium-range (about 2,000 km range) solid-fuel missiles, two of them for submarines (SLBMs).
In its weapons modernization plan approved in 2021, the regime proposed developing a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which makes it much easier and safer to store and fire a projectile.
At the parade with which North Korea celebrated the 75th anniversary of its military on February 8, the regime presented precisely a new alleged solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, although it has not yet been tested.
In the Defense White Paper, Seoul once again refers to the neighboring country as an “enemy”, something that has not happened for six years.
“As the North defined us as an ‘undoubted enemy’ at the party’s Central Committee plenary meeting in December 2022 and continues to pose a military threat without giving up its nuclear program, the North Korean regime and military are our enemies. “, you can read. in the document
Relations between Seoul and Pyongyang have deteriorated sharply in the past two years, especially after conservative Yoon Suk-yeol came to power in May 2022.
Last year, the North Korean regime carried out a record 50 missile launches, many in response to US and South military maneuvers and the Pentagon’s deployment of strategic assets on the Korean peninsula.
Source: TSF
