Click to see full-size image
South Korean National Intelligence Service spotted “special activities” with transport vehicles at a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile research and production site called Sanumdong located in the Pyongyang area, according to local media cited by Bloomberg.
Regardless of what is going at the site, South Korea can’t tell if it began before or after the failed Trump-Kim summit in Hanoi.
Images from commercial satellites also appeared to confirm the South Korean claims. The North has started “rapidly rebuilding” its long-range rocket-launch site at Sohae, according to the New York Times.
According to the report, construction work at the long-range rocket facility began before the Hanoi summit, it had been partially dismantled in summer 2018 as a good-will gesture by the North. The facility is located in Tongchang-ri, a remote area near the northwestern border with China.
Following are images posted by North Korea-focused blog 38 North:
Figure 1. Rail-mounted transfer building is being rebuilt.
Click to see full-size image
Figure 2. Engine support structure of the engine test stand is being reassembled.
Click to see full-size image
As reported by Zero Hedge, the North claims the site is used to launch satellites as part of its space program.
The Tongchang-ri facilities have been vital to North Korea’s space and missile programs. The country has used the facilities there to launch satellite-carrying rockets. The United States has called the satellite program a front for developing intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Mr. Kim visited the rocket engine test site in 2017 when engineers there successfully tested a new high-thrust engine, which was believed to have powered intercontinental ballistic missiles that the North launched months later.
Click to see full-size image
Meanwhile, Politico cited US President Donald Trump who said that he would be very disappointed if claims that North Korea is rebuilding its long-range rocket site turn out true.
“I would be very disappointed if that were happening,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office, adding that “it’s a very early report.” “I would be very, very disappointed in Chairman Kim. I don’t think I will be, but we’ll see what happens. We’ll take a look. It will ultimately get solved.”
According to Trump, the relationship between North Korea and the US was good, but he would continue looking into reports.
“It’s too early to see. But we have to solve a problem. We have a very nasty problem there,” Trump said.
U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton warned North Korea that it must be willing to completely give up its nuclear weapons program or it may face even tougher sanctions.
“If they’re not willing to do it, President Trump has been very clear they’re not getting relief from the crushing economic sanctions that have been imposed on them,” Bolton told the Fox Business Network on March 5th. “And we’ll look at ramping those sanctions up, in fact.”
Thus, it appears that little progress was achieved during the latest Trump-Kim summit. All things considered, it may have potentially caused a few steps back.
Kim try his at most best but were deeply disappointed by Pentagon spokesman biblical goliath Trump.Two tongue Trump Trumpets world whole shit.Bolton is the President of USA shit hole Pompeo just do as he wants.Every body is in charch in USA.There is no control.
This information is obviously fake. US & their alies need to justify their denial to give up some sanctions against DPRK as North Korea government asked at the latest meeting in Vietnam.
Get ready for an information bomb!
North Korea is a CIA black site! “In military terminology, a black site is a location at which an unacknowledged black project is conducted. It can refer to the facilities that are controlled by the CIA and used by the U.S. government in its War on Terror to detain alleged unlawful enemy combatants.”
The CIA created ISIS and Al-quieda!! They also created and control NK!
Why do u think the US MSM is attacking trump soo much? Think about it!The left wing MSM is CIA!
This information will come out in the next 18 months! u can laugh now all u want…. just remember i told u so!
Trump is fighting the deep state and the former black hat (bad guy) CIA cabal!
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ebf212e5ab571af48f6e1b5a4fa74100c4a8d4bbc750cce47260cda81c1b1297.jpg
I also thought it was “news” from neocon “think”-tanks. I even saw this from S. Korean Yonhap news: “Restoration work at N.K. missile site unlikely intended to pressure U.S.: experts” 2019.03.06.15:57 「Experts in Seoul, however, rejected that assessment, saying that the North could have started the restoration work ahead of last week’s summit between leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump to get the site ready for dismantlement under a denuclearization deal the two sides had widely been expected to reach.
“North Korea could have been preparing to spruce up the facility in case outside inspectors came to see the base, as part of broader efforts to raise the value for its concession,” said Kim Dong-Yub, director of research at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies.」 https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20190306008200325
It seems that either the neocons got them by twisting their arm, or John Bolton just ‘heroically’ saved the world from the horrors of world-peace by pushing Pyongyang against the wall. “Signs of N. Korea reassembling part of Dongchang-ri missile site detected: source” 2019.03.06.14:55 https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20190306007800315 The report was from unnamed Seoul officials, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)’s “Beyond Parallel” project, 38 North, and Seoul’s National Intelligence Service (NIS).
“N. Koreans became desperate for deal after Trump decided to walk way from summit: report” 2019.03.07.09:52 https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20190307002900325 Note: The cited source was CNN, so it may or may not be true.
“(2nd LD) N.K. apparently running uranium enrichment facilities normally at Yongbyon: Seoul spy agency” 2019.03.07.11:41 https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20190307002352315 Seoul’s legislators quotes their NIS: 「“(North Korea’s) uranium enrichment facilities have been in normal operation, even before the recent summit between the United States and North Korea,” the National Intelligence Service (NIS) was quoted as telling lawmakers at the closed-door briefing Tuesday.
The spy agency said that North Korea stopped the operation of its 5-megawatt reactor at its sprawling nuclear complex in Yongbyon late last year with no signs of reprocessing activities.
At a press briefing Tuesday, lawmakers said the North has been keeping the nuclear reactor dormant, but they did not make public the NIS’s briefing on the North’s uranium enrichment activities at Yongbyon.」
“N. Korea blasts S. Korea, U.S. for conducting joint military exercise” 2019.03.07.20:49 https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20190307009300325 The cited source was Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency. So, it looks like the exercises have begun again. (Here we go again! “Thank you”, Bolton!)
“(LEAD) Bolton says Trump is open to talking to N.K. again” 2019.03.08.02:07 https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20190308000251315 Also, (in an interview by Fox News) Bolton discredits the above-mentioned CNN report.
“(LEAD) N.K. missile site could be fully operational: U.S. monitors” 2019.03.08.02:56 https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20190308000351315 Reports are from 2 “think”-tanks: Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) & 38 North.
Seoul’s state-news media also reports this: “N. Korea rebuilding major satellite launch site?” Updated: 2019-03-06 18:04:46 KST http://www.arirang.com/News/News_View.asp?nseq=232826
“Movements detected at N. Korea’s missile sites” Updated: 2019-03-07 18:30:31 KST http://www.arirang.com/News/News_View.asp?nseq=232874
“Signs of continuous operation at North Korea’s enrichment facility: IAEA chief” Updated: 2019-03-05 10:02:20 KST http://www.arirang.com/News/News_View.asp?nseq=232700
soon trumpet will be offering Nk patriots to protect their facilities. Kind of if you can not blackmail them . scare them into submission just make a flip flop and kiss their asses. Trump specialty
Failure of the Trump-Kim Summit illustrates how far apart the two sides are – perhaps always were. America was not going to remove sanctions: North Korea was not going to de-nuclearize unilaterally. Perhaps the sides have only been playing for time from the very beginning of this process. It has a ring of Munich 1938 or the German-USSR non-aggression pact about it, neither prevented the Second World War. Not only on the Korean Peninsula, there are many flashpoints the Third World War might start. The momentum of events and the pattern of history are sending us there. https://www.ghostsofhistory.wordpress.com/
Its not a “Long-Range Missile Facility” ist a satellite launch facility. You can launch long range missiles from everywhere, especially when they are equipped with road mobile launchers. Closing or even dismantling the facility in Sohae would be like closing Cape Canaveral or Baikonur. It will once become very important for civil space activities in Korea.
good and whatever he, kim jung un, shan’t do, is to disassemble the nukes. on the contrary he should build some more with even better ranges and improve the nuking capacity – sound strange but it is the only way to stay safe from the greedy graspy tentacles of moronistan (aka usa). and north korea is just another snafu by moronistan, quite a few of that order since 1950, in fact the long line of snafus started in korea about 1950 and after that the morons have, true to form, continued to outperform itself in one cluster f**ck after the other – pathetic cowards and traitors to an entire people, the american people.