N Korea has built two-storey uranium enrichment facility, says watchdog

Despite running one of the poorest countries in the world, Kim spends millions each year developing a secretive nuclear arsenal. A 2022 report by a non-proliferation think-tank put this figure at $640m."What makes North Korea's nuclear programme so concerning is that many of its facilities are unknown, concealed, and thus difficult to target," Edward Howell, a lecturer at the University of Oxford told the BBC."Beyond Yongbyon, we know that other facilities exist: Kangson, for instance. The embeddedness of North Korea's nuclear doctrine within its foreign and domestic policy means that we should expect there to be more concealed production sites."The agency also said there were indications that operations had started at another enrichment facility in Kangson, near the capital Pyongyang, in January this year. An annex had first been constructed in Kangson in 2024, it said.It had said in April that North Korea appeared to be stepping up its ability to make nuclear bombs, saying they were monitoring the apparent expansion of Yongbyon. The North's nuclear programme has accelerated under Kim, who has overseen a record number of missile tests. The country has fired has numerous intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) since it began testing its long-range system in 2017.The country has conducted six nuclear weapons tests so far, the last of which was in September 2017.Rodong SinmunKim was pictured earlier this year at a "newly commissioned" nuclear enrichment site