<Anchor>
Satellite images show that North Korea is expanding its enriched uranium production facility that can be used as a raw material for nuclear weapons. It seems that the intention is to send a message to the international community with nuclear weapons as well as missiles, but the US is refraining from responding.
This is Washington correspondent Yunsu Kim.
<Reporter> This
is a uranium enrichment plant in North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear complex, photographed by a US commercial satellite in August.
An empty space overgrown with brush can be seen between the buildings.
However, after about a month, this space was cleaned up.
Recently, it has also been installed on the wall.
If only the roof is covered, an additional factory is created.
North Korean nuclear experts in the United States analyzed that the expanded area of the plant is about 1,000 square meters, which can accommodate an additional 1,000 centrifuges.
This is a scale that can increase the production of uranium for nuclear weapons by 25%.
Separately, 38 North, a US media specializing in North Korea, recently reported that the cooling system on the roof of the Yongbyon uranium enrichment plant was removed.
It can be read as a sign that a plant that has been shut down is about to restart by improving its cooling system.
It is analyzed that these successive changes in the Yongbyon nuclear complex are not related to each other.
[Ahn Jin-soo / Former Senior Researcher, Korea Institute of Atomic Energy Control Technology: I think there are other facilities larger than Yongbyon. It can be expanded there, but it seems to be a kind of political gesture to keep an eye on it all the time.]
Despite the successive military movements of North Korea, the United States is in the mood to refrain from responding as much as possible.
There are also analyzes that it is an intention not to extend the front to North Korea in the diplomatic crisis caused by the failure to withdraw from Afghanistan.
(Video coverage: Park Eun-ha, video editing: Jung Yong-hwa)