North Korea suspected of expanding base that can launch missiles to the US

"Satellite images show that the Yeongjeo-dong missile base is still active. Moreover, North Korea last year significantly expanded a nearby facility, which appears to be another missile base," the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, California, said based on satellite images thatCNNannounced yesterday.

The Middlebury Institute added that it was unclear whether the nearby facility, called Hoejung-ri, was a separate base or an extension of Yeongjeo-dong, noting that construction on the massive underground facility continued into August, two months after the Singapore summit.

“Despite Kim Jong-un’s stated desire to denuclearize, North Korea continues to produce and deploy nuclear-tipped missiles,” said Jeffrey Lewis, an analyst at the Middlebury Institute. According to Lewis and his colleague David Schmerler, Hoejung-ri could be the site of North Korea’s newest long-range missiles, including nuclear-tipped models that could reach military bases and the continental United States.

Shutting down missile testing facilities makes it harder for North Korea to develop new warheads, but the move has little impact on the continued production and mass deployment of existing nuclear missiles, something leader Kim Jong-un vowed to do in January.

"Any denuclearization deal would require North Korea to allow international inspectors to verify that its facilities no longer contain nuclear weapons. The Trump administration has pledged that access to North Korean military bases would be part of any deal," the Middlebury Institute said.

"We watch North Korea very closely. We will continue to support the diplomatic process and do not discuss intelligence matters," Pentagon spokesman Chris Logan said in response to questions about the information provided by the Middlebury Institute, while the US State Department declined to comment.

US National Security Adviser John Bolton said on December 4 that North Korea has so far "not met the commitments" made at the June summit in Singapore. "I think that's why President Trump thinks another summit is likely to be productive," Bolton said, adding that Trump and Kim could meet in January or February.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly welcomed North Korea's lack of missile tests in recent months, saying it is a sign of progress in diplomatic relations between the two countries. He also said that Kim Jong-un's offer to dismantle some weapons testing facilities shows the North Korean leader's seriousness about the goal of denuclearization.

However, in reality, the agreement to "work towards complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula" that Washington and Pyongyang reached at the Singapore summit is quite vague and North Korea has not made any significant progress. The country is believed to not easily give up its nuclear strategy because of the promise of economic benefits offered by the US.