The South Korean military estimates that North Korea has about 70 kilograms of plutonium, enough to make more than 10 nuclear bombs, according to the Defense White Paper published in Seoul on Thursday.
The calculation is higher than the 50 kilograms of plutonium estimated by the country’s defense authorities in the previous edition of the book.
The Defense Memorandum, which is published every two years, also states without further details that the ‘supply’ 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 solid fuel missiles (about 2,000 kilometers in range), two of which are for submarines (SLBM).
In its weapons modernization plan approved in 2021, the regime proposed developing a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which would make it much easier and safer to store and fire a projectile.
During the parade with which North Korea celebrated the 75th anniversary of its army on February 8, the regime presented precisely a new alleged solid-fuel ICBM, although it has not yet been tested.
In the defense memorandum, Seoul again refers to the neighboring country as an “enemy”, something that had not happened in six years.
“While the North defined us as an “undoubted enemy” at the party’s Central Committee plenary in December 2022 and continues to pose a military threat without abandoning its nuclear program, the North Korean regime and military are our enemies . the document.
Relations between Seoul and Pyongyang have deteriorated dramatically over the past two years, especially after conservative Yoon Suk-yeol came to power in May 2022.
Last year, the North Korean regime conducted about 50 missile launches, a record number, in many cases in response to South and US military maneuvers and the deployment of Pentagon strategic assets to the Korean peninsula.
Source: DN
