North Korea announces opening of a new nuclear facility

North Korea on Thursday unveiled a new facility to produce nuclear bomb fuels, with leader Kim Jong Un announcing plans to bolster the country's nuclear forces "at an exponential rate." The official Korean Central News Agency said the facility used "more sophisticated technology" but didn't provide further details, such as where it is located and when it began its operation. State media photos showed what appeared to be a large centrifuge hall, indicating the plant is likely used to enrich weapons-grade uranium. The disclosure of the new factory is in line with Kim's repeated vows to expand its nuclear weapons program to cope with what he called escalating U.S.-led military threats. KCNA said Kim visited the nuclear facility on Wednesday to learn about its operation indices and its long-term production plan. KCNA quoted Kim as saying the urgency for bolstering up the country's nuclear war deterrent, both in quality and quantity, has grown because of confrontations with "the most ferocious enemies," an apparent reference to the United States and South Korea. Kim cited other unspecified threats and crises as a need to boost North Korea's nuclear capability, it said. Kim claimed that North Korea's weapons-grade nuclear materials production capacity has more than doubled compared with five years ago, according to KCNA. There are virtually no ways to independently verify his claim. …