Satellite imagery shows suspected uranium enrichment building at Yongbyon: US monitor
Uranium enrichment plant in Yongbyon / Captured from 38 North
Recent satellite imagery indicates the construction of a suspected uranium enrichment plant at North Korea's main nuclear complex in Yongbyon, north of Pyongyang, a U.S. monitor said Thursday, in what could be a sign of the recalcitrant regime's effort to boost its nuclear arsenal.
Beyond Parallel, a project of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, released its analysis of Maxar satellite imagery taken on June 6, which it said supports a recent statement by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi.
On Monday, the IAEA chief said that "the agency is monitoring the construction of a new building at Yongbyon which has dimensions and features similar to the Kangson enrichment plant." Kangson near Pyongyang is where an undeclared enrichment facility is located.
"A review of available Maxar satellite imagery indicates the construction of a structure that is likely to be a new uranium enrichment plant to produce fissile material for nuclear weapons," Beyond Parallel said in an article on its website.
It added, "If the building at Yongbyon is indeed a new enrichment facility, we will see a substantial increase in the North Korean nuclear arsenal before the end of the decade."
The monitor noted that the IAEA statement suggested the new building may be intended to expand the North's uranium enrichment capacity, though further information is needed to confirm its purpose.
Satellite imagery analysis shows that the construction of the new facility at the complex started in mid-December. It was externally completed by early June 2025, and internal construction is ongoing, according to the think tank monitor.
Though the purpose of the building is not yet clear, the construction comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed his willingness to resume dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that Trump remains "receptive" to correspondence with Kim, following a NK News report that North Korean diplomats in New York had refused to accept a letter from Trump, aimed at reestablishing communication channels between Washington and Pyongyang.
During his first term, Trump had three in-person meetings with Kim — the first in Singapore in 2018, the second in Hanoi in February 2019 and the third at the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom in June 2019.