North Korea plutonium stockpile at 70kg, says South Korea defense paper

South Korea’s latest defense white paper referred to North Korea as the “enemy” for the first time in six years, amidst growing tensions in the peninsula. The paper also noted an increase in Pyongyang’s stockpile of weapons-grade plutonium.

Seoul issued its biennial defense white paper on Thursday, calling North Korea the “enemy” for the first time in six years. The paper also said North Korea’s stockpile of weapons-grade plutonium has increased to boost its nuclear weapons stockpile. The 2022 paper revived the 2016 description of the North Korean regime and the military as the “enemy” citing Pyongyang’s ongoing weapons development, its cyber and military provocations, and its depiction of South Korea as an “enemy.”

“As North Korea continues to pose military threats without giving up nuclear weapons, its regime and military, which are the main agents of the execution, are our enemies,” the paper said, adding that Pyongyang’s stockpile of weapons-grade plutonium is at 70 kilograms, more from the 50 kilograms that were estimated in the previous report.

North Korea has also obtained “substantial amounts of highly enriched uranium” and a “significant level of capability” to miniaturize atomic bombs in six nuclear tests.

“Our military is strengthening surveillance as the possibility of an additional nuclear test is rising,” said the paper, citing last year’s restoration of tunnels at North Korea’s testing site. The paper also noted that North Korea violated the 2018 inter-Korean military pact that banned hostilities 15 times last year alone, including the drone incursions in December, artillery fire inside the buffer zone, and the missiles that were launched across the de facto maritime border in November.

On Friday, Norwegian police said it has seized a record $5.8 million worth of cryptocurrency stolen by North Korean hackers in 2022. North Korean hackers stole $625 million in cryptocurrency in March 2022, from a blockchain project linked to the cryptocurrency-based game Axie Infinity. This was the largest heist of its kind on record, and the United States linked it to a North Korean hacking group called “Lazarus.”

Norway’s senior public prosecutor Marianne Bender said in a statement that the money could be used to fund Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program. The Norwegian national economic crime unit also known as Okokrim, said it seized $5.84 million in what would be “one of the largest seizures of money” ever made in the country, and a record amount for cryptocurrency seizure.