New activities have been detected at a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missiles plant. It comes as US President Donald Trump said he would be very disappointed if Pyongyang rebuilt a rocket site. Movement of cargo vehicles was spotted recently around a factory at Sanumdong in Pyongyang, which produced North Korea’s first intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of reaching the US, South Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo and Donga Ilbo newspapers reported, citing politicians briefed by the National Intelligence Service. Spy chief Suh Hoon told the politicians he practically viewed the activity as missile-related, according to the JoongAng Ilbo.
The newspaper also quoted Suh saying North Korea continued to operate its uranium enrichment facility at the main Yongbyon nuclear complex after a first summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore last June. The reports came after a second summit between Trump and Kim broke down last week in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi over differences on how far North Korea was willing to limit its nuclear program and the degree of US willingness to ease sanctions. The Sanumdong factory produced two Hwasong-15 ICBMs, North Korea’s longest-range missiles that can fly over 13,000 km. After testing a new Hwasong-15 in late 2017, the country declared the completion of its “state nuclear force”, before pursuing talks with South Korea and the United States last year.
South Korea’s presidential office and defence ministry declined to confirm the reports of activity at Sanumdong, saying they are closely monitoring North Korea’s activities in cooperation with the US.
On Tuesday, two US think tanks and the South Korean spy agency reported that work was underway to restore part of North Korea’s Sohae Satellite Launching Station even as the Hanoi meeting took place. North Korea began work to dismantle a missile engine test stand at Sohae last year in line with Kim’s pledge made at his first summit with Trump in June in Singapore.
“I would be very disappointed if that were happening,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked if North Korea was breaking a promise.
“It’s too early to see. It’s a very early report. We’re the ones that put it out. But I would be very, very disappointed in Chairman Kim, and I don’t think I will be, but we’ll see what happens. We’ll take a look. It’ll ultimately get solved.”
Trump, eager for a big foreign policy win on North Korea that has eluded predecessors for decades, has repeatedly stressed his good relationship with Kim. But the bonhomie has failed so far to bridge the wide gap between the two sides. Imagery from Planet Labs analyzed by the Center for Nonproliferation Studies in California showed activity at Sohae from February 23 up until Wednesday. A US government source said the work at Sohae likely began before the summit, which was preceded by a series of lower-level talks in February.