Kim tours nuclear site as Xi plans rare Pyongyang visit

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited a newly operational nuclear material production factory and called for the "exponential" expansion of the country's atomic arsenal, state media reported Thursday, while China simultaneously announced that President Xi Jinping would visit Pyongyang next week in his first such trip in nearly seven years. Kim said production capacity for weapons-grade nuclear material had reached more than double its previous level over the past five years and instructed officials to further increase output to meet long-term strategic goals. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff identified the unveiled facility as a uranium-enrichment site, with satellite imagery suggesting it is located at the country's main nuclear complex in Yongbyon. Photographs published by state media showed Kim walking between rows of cylinder-shaped equipment inside the facility, where he was briefed on new production processes incorporating more advanced technology. Analysts immediately linked Kim's visit to the impending meeting with Xi, noting that before his September 2025 trip to Beijing, Kim similarly inspected plans for a new intercontinental ballistic missile called the "Hwasong-20." Chad O'CCarroll, founder of the NK News website, said the logic would be to demonstrate that denuclearization is "not possible, right on the eve of contact with the PRC." The visit also comes as South Korea pursues nuclear-powered submarines and negotiates with Washington over uranium enrichment rights, developments Pyongyang appears to be using to justify accelerating its weapons program. Xi's visit to Pyongyang from June 8 will be his first overseas trip of 2026 and his first to North Korea since 2019, marking a significant moment as Beijing seeks to reassert ties with its only formal treaty ally after the COVID-19 pandemic froze exchanges and Kim deepened cooperation with Moscow. North Korea is estimated to possess around 50 nuclear warheads, according to international assessments, though it has never disclosed the size of its arsenal. Kim declared in February that the country's status as a nuclear state is "completely and absolutely irreversible," and earlier this month, South Korean intelligence revealed Pyongyang had codified an "automatic nuclear launch" policy into law.