North Korea getting closer to atomic bomb. Seoul: possesses two tons of highly enriched uranium

From our correspondent

NEW DELHI - The South Korean government suspects that the ruling regime in North Korea is already in possession of large quantities - perhaps as much as two tonnes - of uranium highly enriched to 90 per cent and above. The revelation was made yesterday by Reunification Minister Chung Dong-young at a press conference during which he stressed the urgency of halting Pyongyang's nuclear programme. "At this very moment, uranium enrichment centrifuges are in action at four locations in the North," Chung explained, adding that between 10 and 12 kilograms of fissile material are needed to produce one bomb.

Chung admitted that, as things stand, it is no longer possible to make the Kim Jong Un regime back down using the weapon of sanctions and that the only way forward is a negotiation between the US and North Korea. Chung added that the Seoul government will do everything possible to help reopen that diplomatic channel and thus work towards normalising relations with Pyongyang. To this end, the Ministry of Reunification has asked the Ministry of Defence to suspend military exercises near the border with the North.

The feeling, however, is that these openings alone will do little to defuse the risk of a nuclear conflict on the Korean Peninsula. A few days ago, in front of the Pyongyang Parliament, Kim reiterated his desire to reopen a channel of negotiation with the United States, but only on condition that there are no denuclearisation demands from Washington. A position that even the openness of the new South Korean President Lee Jae Myung does not seem to have been able to undermine for the moment. During his first speech at the UN, Lee promised to end the 'vicious circle of unnecessary military tension' with the North and hypothesised a 'gradual solution based on the rational realisation that denuclearisation is not possible in the short term'. Lee is a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, a centre-left party that is historically less inclined than his predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol's conservative party to demonise the North's regime and more open to dialogue.

Despite a negotiating posture that is far from accommodating, there is, however, some chance that Kim will soon meet with Donald Trump again. The US president will attend the Apec summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, at the end of the month, and although the chances of Kim's presence there are remote to say the least, it is not out of the question that the two leaders could meet in the demilitarised zone on the North-South border, as happened in 2019 after the Osaka G20 in Japan.