US Spies Discovered a New Missile Silo in North Korea (2018)

On Monday, analysts reported that they found 13 secret North Korean missile development sites, posing a challenge to the Trump administration's attempts to achieve a broad arms control agreement with Pyongyang. Despite President Donald Trump's statement after the June summit that there was "no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea," satellite imagery shows that the country has an extensive network of weapons facilities that the US aims to neutralize. The report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies identified 13 hidden sites used to produce missiles and related technology, illustrating the scope of North Korea's weapons program and its determination to conceal its military might. Although the sites are not launch facilities and in some cases are rudimentary, the dispersed deployment of these bases and distinctive tactics employed by ballistic missile units make it difficult to neutralize them.

The sites, which can be used for all classes of ballistic missiles, should be declared by North Korea and inspected in any credible, verifiable deal that addresses Pyongyang's most significant threats to the United States and its allies, according to the authors of the report. The South Korean presidential office stated that the report did not include any new information that it was not already aware of. However, Kim Eui-kyeom, a presidential spokesman, said that continued activity at North Korean missile sites underscores the need for nuclear negotiations between the US and North Korea to proceed at a faster pace.

Kim Jong Un, North Korea's leader, disputed the claims of the report, taking issue with a New York Times article that said North Korea was engaging in "great deception," stating that North Korea had never promised to dismantle a short-range ballistic missile base northwest of Seoul that was highlighted by the CSIS. North Korea analysts not involved in the report said that the findings were not surprising given Pyongyang's past activities but were still cause for concern. They also noted that Kim had not agreed to halt either nuclear weapons or missile development in negotiations with Trump or Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The report was released less than a week after North Korea abruptly called off a new round of negotiations with Pompeo that had been set for Thursday in New York. The cancellation followed threats from North Korean officials to resume nuclear and missile testing unless US sanctions are lifted.

Kim Jong Un, North Korea's leader, disputed the claims of the report, taking issue with a New York Times article that said North Korea was engaging in "great deception," stating that North Korea had never promised to dismantle a short-range ballistic missile base northwest of Seoul that was highlighted by the CSIS. North Korea analysts not involved in the report said that the findings were not surprising given Pyongyang's past activities but were still cause for concern. They also noted that Kim had not agreed to halt either nuclear weapons or missile development in negotiations with Trump or Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The report was released less than a week after North Korea abruptly called off a new round of negotiations with Pompeo that had been set for Thursday in New York. The cancellation followed threats from North Korean officials to resume nuclear and missile testing unless US sanctions are lifted.