N. Korea limits export of uranium concentrate in Pyongsan to just a few key organizations
Amid increasing signs that North Korea is expanding its uranium mining, North Korean authorities recently introduced new regulations on the export of uranium concentrate in Pyongsan, North Hwanghae Province. Now only a few key institutions can export the material.
A high-ranking source in North Korea told Daily NK on Monday that access and export rights to uranium mines became restricted to the Munitions Industry Department and organizations affiliated with the Central Committee after the Eighth Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea earlier this year.
In the past, powerful agencies such as the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Social Security could export uranium, but this is now impossible.
The Ministry of State Security (MSS), which controls access to uranium mines and the areas surrounding them, is no longer allowed to procure the material, either. Instead, the agency is only permitted to involve itself in the screening and approval process of people seeking to enter mine areas.
North Korean authorities appear to be streamlining export routes to avoid surveillance by the international community before expanding production of the material. ......
[Source: Daily NK]
