NEW: North Korea has expanded a factory linked to the production of long-range nuclear missiles, according to a new analysis of satellite photos provided to NBCNews, bolstering a growing expectation the country soon will resume ballistic testing.
Commercial imagery taken by Planet Labs shows that North Korea began expanding the site shortly after Kim's visit in June, including constructing a new building that is connected to the one where Kim Jong Un witnessed preparations for the Hwasong-15 launch in 2017.The country halted nuclear and long-range missiles tests in 2017 in the wake of diplomatic talks with the United States that included two summit meetings between Kim and Trump. But in recent months no progress has been apparent.
The facility flagged by Lewis and his team is known as the March 16 Factory, and it produces both military and civilian vehicles. Russian truck maker KamAZ began participating in a joint venture at the facility to produce to produce civilian vehicles from November 2006 to 2010, Lewis said. Kim appears to have visited part of the facility a third time in June 2019, Lewis says, and commercial imagery taken by Planet Labs shows that North Korea began expanding the site shortly after that visit. Among the additions was a new building that is connected to the one where Kim witnessed preparations for the Hwasong-15 launch in 2017.
“The only option is to accept the reality that North Korea is a nuclear-armed state that holds the U.S. at risk,” Lewis said. “The Trump administration had an opportunity, and I think they’ve blown it.”
Indonesia Berita Terbaru, Indonesia Berita utama
Similar News:Anda juga dapat membaca berita serupa dengan ini yang kami kumpulkan dari sumber berita lain.
UN deadline to send North Korean workers home likely unmetNorth Korea stands to lose a rare legitimate source of foreign currency, worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year, if nations that employ its people as guest workers abide by a U.N. order to send them all home by this weekend.
Baca lebih lajut »
North Korean Workers Flock Home as Sanctions Deadline HitsHundreds of North Korean laborers are streaming out of Russia every day ahead of a deadline set by U.N. sanctions, severing a source of revenue for Kim Jong Un and posing a challenge to the isolated regime as denuclearization talks with the U.S. stall.
Baca lebih lajut »
'Before it is too late': Diplomats race to defuse tensions ahead of North Korea's deadlineA last minute flurry of diplomacy aimed at engaging with North Korea ahead of it...
Baca lebih lajut »
State Department North Korea envoy confirmed as deputy secretary of stateThe Senate voted overwhelmingly to confirm US special representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun as the next deputy secretary of state
Baca lebih lajut »