Overview
- IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, speaking in Seoul on Wednesday, said North Korea has made a "very serious" increase in nuclear weapons production capacity and is estimated to hold a few dozen warheads.
- He said monitoring shows a rapid uptick at Yongbyon’s 5‑megawatt reactor, the plutonium reprocessing unit, and a light‑water reactor, with other facilities also active.
- The agency has tracked construction of a new Yongbyon building that matches uranium enrichment halls, pointing to a large rise in centrifuge capacity for producing bomb‑grade material.
- Grossi stressed that exact output remains uncertain because inspectors have been barred since 2009, though CSIS satellite analysis this month indicates a suspected enrichment plant is near completion.
- He added the IAEA has seen no proof of Russian military nuclear‑tech transfers to Pyongyang and called for strict safeguards as South Korea studies nuclear‑powered submarines.