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North Korea: satellite images show dismantling of missile test facilities – report North Korea: satellite images show dismantling of missile test facilities
(about 9 hours later)
Satellite images indicate North Korea has begun dismantling key facilities at a site used to develop engines for ballistic missiles, in a first step toward fulfilling a pledge made to US President Donald Trump at a June summit, reports a Washington-based think tank. North Korea has taken the first steps towards honouring its commitment to nuclear disarmament by starting to dismantle its main missile-engine test site, according to an analysis of satellite images.
The images from 20 July showed work at the Sohae satellite launching station to dismantle a building used to assemble space-launch vehicles and a nearby rocket engine test stand used to develop liquid-fuel engines for ballistic missiles and space-launch vehicles, the 38 North think tank said. The findings have not yet received official backing from the US or South Korean governments, even though the dismantling would be a huge boost for Donald Trump’s claim that he was right to engage with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, at a historic summit in Singapore in June.
“Since these facilities are believed to have played an important role in the development of technologies for the North’s intercontinental ballistic missile program, these efforts represent a significant confidence-building measure on the part of North Korea,” it said in a report. Pictures from the 38 North thinktank show the engine test stand at the Sohae satellite launching station being taken apart. The work started at some point in the past two weeks, after the last visit to North Korea by the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo.
Trump told a news conference after his 12 June summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that Kim had promised that a major missile engine testing site would be destroyed very soon. North Korea has also started dismantling a rail-mounted building at Sohae where workers assembled space launch vehicles before moving them to the launchpad, according to Joseph Bermudez Jr of 38 North.
Trump did not identify the site, but a US official subsequently told Reuters that it was Sohae. His analysis is based on a comparison of satellite photos taken on Friday and Sunday. He claimed they showed North Korea had taken “an important first step toward fulfilling a commitment [towards the denuclearisation pledge] made by Kim Jong-un”.
South Korea’s defence ministry said on Tuesday it plans to reduce guard posts and equipment along the demilitarised zone on its border with the north, the Yonhap news agency reported. Trump is badly in need of evidence that his brand of unorthodox diplomacy with some of the US’s most long-established foes can produce results.
The 38 North report comes amid growing questions about North Korea’s willingness to live up to the commitments Kim made at the summit, particularly to work towards denuclearisation. On Friday, Pompeo complained to the UN security council that North Korea was evading oil sanctions by running covert ship-to-ship transfers. He insisted no sanctions should be lifted until complete, verifiable disarmament had taken place. Pompeo privately felt his last visit to North Korea had been a frustrating failure, even though he called for patience.
US officials have repeatedly said North Korea has committed to giving up a nuclear weapons program that now threatens the United States, but Pyongyang has offered no details as to how it might go about this. Some Republican senators had also started to complain that China, angry with the US over trade tariffs, had discouraged North Korea from sticking to nuclear disarmament commitments made at the summit. Critics complained that Trump had been naive to invest so much importance in his personal chemistry with the North Korean leader given the country’s record of reneging on commitments to disarm.
Jenny Town, managing editor of 38 North, which is based at Washington’s Stimson Center, said the work at Sohae could be an important move to keep negotiations going. The South Korean foreign minister, Kang Kyung-wha, at a briefing in London, said its reports suggested North Korea was preparing for disarmament in return for a lifting of economic sanctions.
“This could (and that’s a big could) mean that North Korea is also willing to forgo satellite launches for the time being as well as nuclear and missile tests. This distinction has derailed diplomacy in the past,” she said. The satellite image analysis leaves it unclear whether North Korea planned to demolish the entire Sohae site, which has been vital to its space programme. Other important facilities such as fuel bunkers, a main assembly building and the gantry tower appear untouched.
On Friday, senior US officials called on Kim to act on his promise to give up his nuclear weapons and said the world, including China and Russia, must continue to enforce sanctions on Pyongyang until he does so. Jenny Town, the managing editor of 38 North, which is based at the Stimson Center in Washington DC, said the work at Sohae could be an important move to keep negotiations going.
“This could – and that’s a big could – mean that North Korea is also willing to forego satellite launches for the time being as well as nuclear and missile tests. This distinction has derailed diplomacy in the past,” she said.
A report in The Washington Post said that in spite of positive assessments Trump has given on progress with North Korea, he has vented anger at aides over a lack of immediate progress. North Korea, in a media report last week, criticised South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, for not actively seeking to help Pyongyang in getting sanctions lifted. Ending the sanctions is Kim’s chief concern as the regime focuses on building its economy. South Korea, leading the push for greater dialogue, is seeking exemption from US sanctions to increase trade with the North. Kang said: “Given that talks between the US and North and between the South and North should go together, South Korea and the US need to communicate so that these talks are mutually reinforcing.”
In a tweet on Monday, Trump called this report “fake news”.
A Rocket has not been launched by North Korea in 9 months. Likewise, no Nuclear Tests. Japan is happy, all of Asia is happy. But the Fake News is saying, without ever asking me (always anonymous sources), that I am angry because it is not going fast enough. Wrong, very happy!
Last week, Trump said there was “no rush” and “no time limit” on denuclearisation negotiations.
Dan Coats, US director of national intelligence, said on Thursday it was technically possible for North Korea to eliminate its nuclear weapons program within a year, but added that it was not likely to happen.
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