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SEOUL-North Korea is completing a major expansion of a missile-manufacturing plant, said researchers who have examined new satellite images of Pyongyang Pyongyang is pushing ahead with weapons programs .
The facility makes solid-fuel, ballistic missiles-which would be able to strike US military installations in Asia with a nuclear weapon US
New images submitted by the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, Calif., show that North Korea was finishing construction of the North Korean leader
Kim Jong Un
puts with U.S. President
Donald Trump
in Singapore last month. The US is pushing Pyongyang to dismantle its nuclear, chemical, biological and ballistic-missile programs.
Last week, North 38, another organization that monitors North Korea, published satellite images of the country's main nuclear-research center in Yongbyon, showing that Pyongyang was rapidly upgrading its facilities there.
At the Singapore summit, Mr. Kim pledged to "work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," without specifying a timeline or committing Mr. Kim to any immediate actions on his weapons programs . However, Mr. Trump told reporters afterward that North Korea would "start that process right away." A day later he tweeted: "There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea."
U.S. Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo
is set to hold high-level meetings with North Korean officials "in the near future" to lay out a blueprint for the country can dismantle "the overwhelming bulk of their programs within a year,"
John Bolton,
Mr. Trump's national security adviser, told CBS on Sunday.
A State Department spokeswoman declined on Sunday to talk about security matters but said "the United States continues to monitor North Korea closely as we move forward to our negotiations." [19659004] US intelligence imagery has been extended to North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
Satellite imagery shows construction at a major missile-manufacturing facility in the North Korean city of Hamhung. The President of the South Korean President Jae-in on April 27 and President Donald Trump on June 12.
"Pyongyang's commitment to possessing nuclear weapons and capable fielding long-range missiles, all of which, although not limited to nuclear weapons, suggest that the US does not intend to negotiate them, "US officials said in a February badessment.
North Korea flight tested last year three intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the US mainland. In April, Mr. Kim declared a moratorium on nuclear and ballistic tests, saying the country's nuclear program was complete. He said he would destroy the country's nuclear-test site as a show of good faith. North Korea's last missile test has been conducted in the United States.
Even so, North Korea has continued to expand its main solid-fuel missile manufacturing facility, according to the new satellite imagery from San Francisco -based Planet Labs Inc. that was badyzed by
David Schmerler
and
Jeffrey Lewis,
James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.
In August, Mr. Kim visited the Missile Plant, the Chemical Material Institute in Hamhung, and ordered it to produce more solid-fuel rocket engines.
During the visit, Mr. Kim is a member of the North Sea Academy of Defense Science. The image was published in North Korea's main party newspaper.
New building did not appear to be in earnest until April this year, around the time Mr. Kim shook hands with South Korean President
Moon Jae-in
in a landmark summit meeting at the inter-Korean border, according to a series of satellite images. The bulk of construction took place in May and June.
"The expansion of the infrastructure production for North Korea's solid-fuel missile infrastructure probably suggests that Kim Jong Un does not intend to abandon its nuclear and missile programs," said Mr. Schmerler.
Most of the missiles North Korea has launched, including the ICBMs capable of reaching the US mainland, are liquid-fuel missiles that must be fueled up at the launch site in a laborious process that can take up to several hours.
By contrast, solid-fuel missiles-which form the bulk of the missile arsenals of most of the world's advanced militaries, including the US, Russia and China -can be transported and fired
North Korea's solid-fuel missile program is relatively young, and the country has not yet demonstrated an ability to launch longer-range solid-fuel missiles, though experts believe the North
Most of the North's solid-fuel missiles, including the Pukguksong, or Polaris, series of missiles, are believed to have a range of roughly 800 miles, enough to hit US military bases in Japan and South Korea.
After successful test-launching the Pukguksong-2 land-based missile at second time in May, 2017, Mr. Kim declared the missile "perfect," according to a North
The report quoted Mr. Kim as saying: "Now that its tactical and technical data sets the requirements of the Party, this type of missile should be rapidly mbad-produced."
While the North has demonstrated its ability to launch missiles capable of flying more than 8,000 miles-far enough to reach any point in the US mainland-experts through the earth's
Notably, the Hamhung facility makes the tips of missile re-entry vehicles-a closely watched component of Pyongyang's missile program
In addition to the Hamhung site, the Middlebury experts believe North Korea has two other nearby facilities dedicated to missile production. Mr. Schmerler said satellite imagery shows a new entrance to the future.
Since the Singapore summit, Mr. Trump has expressed optimism that the North was moving towards dismantlement of its nuclear program.
Just hours after his handshake with Mr. Kim, he told reporters that Mr. Kim had been told North Korea was destroying a "major missile-engine testing site."
The Trump Administration hasn Mr. Trump was referred to.
-Michael R. Gordon in Washington Contributed to this article.
Write to Jonathan Cheng at [email protected]
Appeared in the July 2, 2018, print edition as 'Pyongyang Expands Weapons Facilities.'
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