North Korea is continuing to expand its nuclear arsenal and missile capabilities, including efforts to field more advanced and survivable systems, according to a new Congressional Research Service (CRS) report.
The Oct. 13 CRS update says Pyongyang is pursuing a broader range of nuclear-capable delivery systems while expanding production of the fissile material needed to build additional warheads. The report also highlights a growing focus on solid-fueled missiles, hypersonic weapons and multiple-warhead technologies.
The assessment comes as North Korea has accelerated its missile testing activity, including a test as recent as this past September. CRS says the country has conducted ballistic missile tests in January, March, April, May, June, August, September and October this year. North Korea’s October activity included an unnamed intermediate-range ballistic missile that state media described as a hypersonic strategic weapon system.
North Korea also continues to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) capable of reaching the U.S. homeland. CRS cited a 2025 Defense Intelligence Agency assessment that Pyongyang had 10 or fewer ICBMs and could possess as many as 50 by 2035.
The report said North Korea is expanding uranium-enrichment capacity at Yongbyon and Kangson, including a probable additional enrichment facility at Yongbyon. The International Atomic Energy Agency has already identified the construction of a second uranium-enrichment facility at Yongbyon as of September. Nongovernmental experts estimate Pyongyang has produced enough fissile material for up to 90 warheads and may have assembled about 50.
CRS also highlighted North Korea’s efforts to develop submarine-launched ballistic missiles, hypersonic glide vehicles and multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles, or MIRVs, which could allow a single missile to carry multiple warheads.
The report said North Korean president Kim Jong Un has repeatedly rejected denuclearization negotiations and regards nuclear weapons as a guarantor of regime security. It also noted U.S. officials’ concerns that Russia is sharing space, nuclear and missile-related technology with Pyongyang in return for North Korean support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
For Congress, the report identified sanctions, diplomacy and U.S. and allied force posture as areas for continued scrutiny.
