North Korea considering ways to hide nukes, secret production facilities: Report

The US intelligence officials have concluded that North Korea does not intend to fully surrender its nuclear stockpiles, The Washington Post reported, citing intelligence officials.

Image: AFP

Washington: North Korea is considering ways to conceal the number of nuclear weapons it has and its secret production facilities, a media report claimed today.   The US intelligence officials have concluded that North Korea does not intend to fully surrender its nuclear stockpiles, The Washington Post reported, citing intelligence officials. Such a development is contrary to the promise made by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to President Donald Trump during their June 12 summit meeting in Singapore. Kim had pledged to work toward the "complete denuclearisation" in return for security guarantees from the US. According to the daily, evidence collected by US intelligence points to preparations to deceive the US about the number of nuclear warheads in North Korea's arsenal as well as the existence of undisclosed facilities used to make fissile material for nuclear bombs. "The new intelligence, described by four officials who have seen it or received briefings, is based on material gathered in the weeks since the summit," the daily said. Some US officials believe that North Korea has about 65 nuclear warheads. Further in addition to the known uranium-enrichment facility, some 60 miles north of Pyongyang, North Korean is also believed to have operated a secret underground uranium enrichment site known as Kangson, the daily said. The 38 North, which monitors North Korean nuclear activities, has claimed that the latest satellite images show that it is making "rapid" improvements to its Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center.