Trump says "nothing new" in report on hidden missile bases in North Korea


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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and President Trump. (Korea Summit Press Pool, Mandel Ngan / AFP / Getty Images)

President Trump criticized Tuesday a new report listing more than a dozen hidden bases in North Korea that could be used to disperse mobile ballistic missile launchers, even as the president continues to claim a significantly reduced nuclear threat .

"We are very familiar with the sites being discussed, nothing new – and nothing is happening out of the ordinary," said the president. says in a tweet. ". . . I'll be the first to let you know if things are going wrong!

The publication of the report Monday by the Center for Strategic and International Studies was covered by several news agencies, including the New York Times, whose report announced "more false news" without questioning the content.

After a much touted summit in June with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Trump said on Twitter that there was no longer any "North Korean nuclear threat". In public, he largely kept this optimistic view of the negotiations.

"We are in no hurry," he told reporters last week, questioned over the prospect of a second summit with Kim, adding that "the missiles stopped, the rockets stopped" .

The CSIS report is the latest evidence that North Korea has stopped its missile tests, but is far from dismantling its weapons facilities. Indeed, it seems to increase its stocks.

In the report, CSIS used satellite imagery and interviews with North Korean defectors and government officials to identify 13 missile bases. They say that there are seven other bases that remain hidden.

According to the New York Times, the bases, which are on "mountainous terrain, are often scattered in narrow and narrow valleys", could be used to deploy mobile missile launchers, which would be extremely difficult for other nations of the world. missiles could be fired.

The CSIS team was headed by Victor Cha, an expert from North Korea that the Trump administration had envisioned appointing ambassador to South Korea last year. However, his name was not proposed after Cha Cha privately disagreed in late December with the North Korean Trump Administration's policy.

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