INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The new intelligence shows that work on advanced weapons is still happening
(File Photo)US spy agencies are seeing signs that North Korea is constructing new missiles at a factory that produced the country's first
intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the United States, according to officials familiar with the intelligence.Newly
obtained evidence, including satellite photos taken in recent weeks, indicates that work is underway on at least one and possibly two
liquid-fueled ICBMs at a large research facility in Sanumdong, on the outskirts of Pyongyang, according to the officials, who spoke on the
condition of anonymity to describe classified intelligence.The findings are the latest to show ongoing activity inside North Korea's nuclear
and missile facilities at a time when the country's leaders are engaged in arms talks with the United States
The new intelligence does not suggest an expansion of North Korea's capabilities but shows that work on advanced weapons is continuing weeks
after President Trump declared in a Twitter posting that Pyongyang was "no longer a Nuclear Threat."The reports about new missile
construction come after recent revelations about a suspected uranium enrichment facility, called Kangson, that North Korea is operating in
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo acknowledged during Senate testimony last week that North Korean factories "continue to produce fissile
material" used in making nuclear weapons
He declined to say whether Pyongyang is building new missiles.During a summit with Trump in June, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed to
a vaguely worded pledge to "work toward" the "denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula
But since then, North Korea has made few tangible moves signaling an intention to disarm.Instead, senior North Korean officials have
discussed their intention to deceive Washington about the number of nuclear warheads and missiles they have, as well as the types and
numbers of facilities, and to rebuff international inspectors, according to intelligence gathered by U.S
Their strategy includes potentially asserting that they have fully denuclearized by declaring and disposing of 20 warheads while retaining
dozens more.The Sanumdong factory has produced two of North Korea's ICBMs, including the powerful Hwasong-15, the first with a proven range
that could allow it to strike the U.S
The newly obtained evidence points to ongoing work on at least one Hwasong-15 at the Sanumdong plant, according to imagery collected by the
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in recent weeks."We see them going to work, just as before," said one U.S
official, who, like the others, spoke on the condition of anonymity in discussing sensitive intelligence
The exception, the officials said, is the Sohae Satellite Launching Station on North Korea's west coast, where workers can be observed
dismantling an engine test stand, honoring a promise made to Trump at the summit.Many analysts and independent experts, however, see that
dismantling as largely symbolic, since North Korea has now successfully launched ICBMs that use the kind of liquid-fueled engines tested at
Moreover, the test stand could easily be rebuilt within months.Buttressing the intelligence findings, independent missile experts this week
also reported observing activity consistent with missile construction at the Sanumdong plant
The daily movement of supply trucks and other vehicles, as captured by commercial satellite photos, shows that the missile facility "is not
dead, by any stretch of the imagination," said Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center
for Nonproliferation Studies
The Monterey, California, nonprofit group analyzed commercial photos obtained from the satellite imagery firm Planet."It's active
We see shipping containers and vehicles coming and going," Lewis said of the Sanumdong plant
"This is a facility where they build ICBMs and space-launch vehicles."Intriguingly, one image, taken July 7, depicts a bright-red covered
trailer in a loading area
The trailer appears identical to those used by North Korea in the past to transport ICBMs
How the trailer was being used at the time of the photograph is unclear.Lewis's group also published images of a large industrial facility
intelligence analysts believe to be the Kangson uranium enrichment plant
The images, first reported by the online publication the Diplomat, depict a football-field-size building surrounded by a high wall, in North
Korea's Chollima-guyok district, southwest of the capital
The complex has a single, guarded entrance and features high-rise residential towers apparently used by workers.Historical satellite photos
show that the facility was externally complete by 2003
intelligence agencies believe that it has been operational for at least a decade
If so, North Korea's stockpile of enriched uranium could be substantially higher than is commonly believed
intelligence agencies in recent months increased their estimates of the size of North Korea's nuclear arsenal, taking into account enriched
uranium from at least one secret enrichment site.The Kangson facility was first publicly identified in May in a Washington Post article that
cited research by nuclear weapons expert David Albright
Some European intelligence officials are not convinced that the Kangson site is used for uranium enrichment
But there is a broad consensus among U.S
intelligence agencies that Kangson is one of at least two secret enrichment plants.Several U.S
officials and private analysts said the continued activity inside North Korea's weapons complex is not surprising, given that Kim made no
public promise at the summit to halt work at the scores of nuclear and missiles facilities scattered around the country.The North Koreans
"never agreed to give up their nuclear program," said Ken Gause, a North Korea expert at the Center for Naval Analysis
And it is foolish to expect that they would do so - at the outset of talks, he said."Regime survival and perpetuation of Kim family rule"
are Kim's guiding principles, he said
"The nuclear program provides them with a deterrent in their mind against regime change by the United States
Giving up the nuclear capability will violate the two fundamental centers of gravity in the North Korean regime."Pompeo, at the Senate
hearing last week, sought to assure lawmakers that the disarmament talks with North Korea remained on track and that the effort to dismantle
the country's nuclear arsenal was just getting underway
He brushed aside suggestions that the administration had been deceived by Kim
"We have not been taken for a ride," he said.But some independent analysts think the Trump administration has misread Kim's intentions,
interpreting his commitment to eventual denuclearization as a promise to immediately surrender the country's nuclear arsenal and dismantle
its weapons factories."We have this backward
North Korea is not negotiating to give up their nuclear weapons," Lewis said
"They are negotiating for recognition of their nuclear weapons
They're willing to put up with certain limits, like no nuclear testing and no ICBM testing
What they're offering is: They keep the bomb, but they stop talking about it."(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by
TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
