Visit to North Korean Uranium Enrichment Facility Shows Cause for Concern

US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael Mullen and his South Korean counterpart Lee Sang-Eui (R) at South Korea's defence ministry in Seoul Oct. 21, 2009. (Kim Jae-Hwan/AFP/Getty Images)

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Sunday that the discovery by a team of experts from Stanford University that North Korea has more sophisticated nuclear capabilities than previously thought, gives credence to the assumption that North Korea intends to build more nuclear weapons, according to the Department of Defense.

Adm. Mike Mullen, said, “The assumption certainly is that [North Korea] continues to head in the direction of additional nuclear weapons,” according to the report.

On Saturday, Stanford University professor Siegfried Hecker published a report on his recent visit to a new uranium enrichment facility in North Korea. Hecker said the “ultra-modern” facility appears to be primarily designed for electricity and “not to boost North Korea’s military capability,” but that the facility could be converted to produce highly-enriched uranium bomb fuel and plutonium potentially suitable for bombs.

The U.S. State special representative for North Korea will meet visit South Korea, China, and Japan this week to discuss North Korea issues, according to the U.S. Department of State.