[ad_1]
SEOUL – North Korea maintains a network of undeclared missile operation bases, as indicated by diplomatic talks with the United States, says a new analysis of commercial satellite imagery.
The analysis – in a report released Monday by the think-tank Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington – adds to the evidence that North Korea is advancing its missile and nuclear capabilities even after it's down. be launched in an ambitious relaxation program with South Korea and the United States. started earlier this year.
Various satellite images this summer showed North Korea's rapidly expanding missile production facilities and the rapid modernization of its main nuclear research facility in Yongbyon, even after a historic summit meeting on June 12 between the president and the president. Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore.
After months of negotiations, negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang are at an impasse and North Korea threatens to resume the development of nuclear weapons. But the question of whether Kim Jong Un has always been serious about denuclearization remains. Photo: KCNA via AP
Other satellite imagery analyzes this year also showed that the North was taking steps to decommission its main underground nuclear test site in Punggye-ri, in the north-east of the country, and dismantle elements of its site. launch of Sohae satellites in Tongchang-ri, in the north-west of the country.
North Korea then invited journalists to witness the detonation of a tunnel entrance in Punggye-ri and declared it willing to allow international inspectors to monitor the site.
North Korea also said it would be willing to allow inspectors to visit its launch site and dismantle its nuclear research facility in Yongbyon, provided the United States takes unspecified measures. including sanctions relief and progress towards a peace treaty. end the Korean War.
According to the CSIS report released on Monday, details of which were first published by The New York Times, North Korea maintains about 20 missile bases that it has not disclosed in the United States and that it continues to maintain and improve.
Obtaining a list of northern nuclear and missile facilities is a key goal of the United States in its diplomatic negotiations with Pyongyang.
Although Kim has not made an explicit commitment to freeze his nuclear and missile defense programs in his talks with Trump or South Korean President Moon Jae this year, satellite images have led skeptics to warn him about the dangers of nuclear weapons. Regarding the diplomatic process to argue that the North Korean government The leader did not abandon his nuclear program, as Mr. Moon thinks.
Supporters of the diplomatic process said Mr Kim needed more security assurances from the United States before he gave up his nuclear arsenal.
Kim said at the end of last year that he considers the nuclear program and missiles of the North as complete after his sixth and largest nuclear test and the first successful launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of to reach the continental United States.
In April of this year, a week before his first summit meeting with Mr Moon, Mr Kim had announced that he would close the underground nuclear test site because he no longer needed it. , and ordered the mass production of long-range missiles.
The lack of satellite imagery in recent months suggesting further development of North Korean missiles and nuclear power appears to have lessened Trump's interest in continuing the dialogue with Kim. Last week, the president reiterated his desire to sit down for a second summit with the North Korean leader, saying it would probably take place "early next year."
However, the frustration in Washington with the pace of North Korean denuclearization also seems to have delayed diplomacy. Last week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was due to meet his main North Korean counterpart, top official Kim Yong Chol, before the meeting was abruptly canceled by North Koreans.
In August, a planned trip from Pompeo to Pyongyang was canceled at the last minute, after Trump had expressed on Twitter his frustration at the lack of sufficient progress on denuclearization.
In his report released by CSIS on Monday, lead author Joseph Bermudez described a missile base for short-range ballistic missiles that the North would likely have completed in 2001 that could threaten US military forces based in South Korea. . He added that the base could also accommodate medium-range ballistic missiles.
Although progress in diplomacy and denuclearization has been slow, it would be unreasonable to think that Mr. Kim will stop making progress in his missile program, particularly the short-range missiles used to repel a conventional weapon attack, says Vipin Narang, nuclear expert. and Associate Professor of Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"As long as there is no agreement – and there is no agreement – it would be foolish for Kim Jong Un to give up or even stop improving his short-range missile bases," he said. Narang said.
Narang highlighted Kim's remarks earlier this year saying he would stop testing but would begin serial production of long-range missiles, which would not cover the short-range missile exploitation base. identified by CSIS.
"The moratorium on testing only concerns long-range systems, so even if they were testing short-range missiles, they would not violate anything they said," Narang said. "He's doing exactly what he said he would do."
Write to Jonathan Cheng at the address [email protected]
