UN sound the alarm over ‘off the charts’ North Korea nuclear program

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has warned that North Korea’s nuclear arsenal has grown "exponentially" as Pyongyang continues its pursuit of nuclear deterrence.

While the North Korean regime claims to be a nuclear-armed state, this assertion remains unrecognized by the international community. In 2003, North Korea withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and conducted its first nuclear tests three years later.

On Tuesday, IAEA Director Rafael Grossi said that Pyongyang is developing a nuclear program that has expanded "exponentially," with estimates suggesting the country may now possess around 50 nuclear warheads.

"You cannot have a country like this, which is completely off the charts with this nuclear arsenal… with such a big program—nuclear program—with all these facilities, without us having any clue of any safety or security measures which are being applied to it," Grossi said during a talk at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C.

Despite IAEA inspectors being expelled from North Korea in 2009, the agency says it still maintains awareness of developments within the country.

(QG - Source: Newsweek - Picture : © Unsplash)