S. Korea says North Korea may hold up to 2000 kg of HEU at four enrichment sites

South Korea said on Thursday that North Korea may hold up to 2,000 kilograms of highly enriched uranium and is operating centrifuges at four enrichment sites, a claim that, if confirmed, would mark a significant expansion of Pyongyang's fissile material stockpile and complicate already stalled denuclearization diplomacy. Unification Minister Chung Dongyoung told reporters intelligence and civilian expert assessments put North Korea's stockpile at more than 90 percent purity and described centrifuges running "at four sites," including the known Yongbyon complex north of Pyongyang.

Chung said the estimate of roughly 2,000 kilograms, or about 4,400 pounds, would be enough to produce a large number of nuclear weapons. He also warned that sanctions alone will not halt the North's program and urged direct talks between Pyongyang and Washington as the only viable path to stopping further development. "Even at this very hour, North Korea's uranium centrifuges are operating at four sites," he said. The ministry later clarified that parts of the assessment were attributed to civilian experts rather than to a single intelligence source.

South Korea's defense ministry has long described...