North Korea has a secret missile base near China that could threaten the U.S., a new report says
North Korea has a secret military base near the Chinese border which constitutes a “potential nuclear threat” for the American continent, according to new research.
The Sinpung-Dong missile exploitation is about 17 miles from the border with China in the North Korean province of North Pyongan, researchers from the Center for Strategic and International Studies said a reflection group in Washington on Wednesday.
The base could contain six to nine of the advanced intercontinental ballistic missiles in North Korea, as well as their mobile launchers and thousands of soldiers, according to the report. Although weapons are not likely to be mounted with nuclear warheads, they are able to transport them.
“These missiles represent a potential nuclear threat to East Asia and the continental United States,” said the report.
The site, according to which the report indicates that North Korea has never referred publicly, was only discovered recently despite a strict international regime intended to limit the subsequent development of nuclear and ballistic missile programs in North Korea.
The researchers said that the report was based on interviews with defectors and officials from around the world, as well as declassified documents, satellite images and open source information.
The report indicates that weapons at the base could include Hwasong-15 or Hwasong-18 ICBM to North Korea, or a missile that has not yet been revealed.
“Current evaluations are that during periods of crisis or war, these launchers and missiles will leave the base, will meet special storage / watershed units and will carry out launch operations from sites dispersed before the Survey.”
According to the latest estimate of the International Stockholm Peace Research Institute, North Korea has gathered around 50 nuclear warheads and has enough fissile equipment to produce up to 40 others.
The construction of the Sinpung-Dong base began around 2004 and it was “generally complete and operational” by 2014, according to the report. Satellite images suggest that the basis continues to be developed and “is active and well maintained by North Korean standards,” he said.
This is one of the 15 to 20 bases of ballistic missiles and related installations across the country that North Korea has never declared, according to the report.
Since the breakdown of the denuclearization talks between President Donald Trump and the North Korean leader Kim Jong one in 2019, North Korea has gradually advanced its arms programs in contempt for international sanctions.
He also strengthened security ties with Russia, in particular the sending of weapons and troops to fight in his war against Ukraine in exchange for support which, according to experts, could include technological assistance with its arms programs.
Experts say that North Korea is probably even more determined to continue nuclear deterrence after American strikes against three Iranian nuclear installations in June.
Kim called for rapid nuclear accumulation on Monday in the midst of the United States annual military exercises in South Korea that Pyongyang considers rehearsal for the invasion.
Although Trump expressed interest in resuming diplomacy in person with Kim, his regime rejected the idea and says that the United States must accept North Korea as a nuclear power.
