North Korea has not declared 20 missile bases?
CSIS believes that North Korea possesses many undeclared missile facilities, including a strategic nuclear force command headquarters.
Satellite image of Sino-ri base in late 2018. Photo:CSIS. |
"The Sino-ri base and the Nodong missiles deployed there meet North Korea's nuclear strategy, which requires maintaining a preemptive strike capability with nuclear or conventional weapons,"Reuterscited a report released yesterday by the Beyond Parallel program of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
Sino-ri and 19 other missile bases are facilities that have never been declared by North Korea, making them not part of the denuclearization negotiations with the United States, CSIS said.
The 18-square-kilometer Sino-ri base, located about 212 kilometers north of the demilitarized zone, houses the command center of a Nodong-1 intermediate-range ballistic missile regiment, a strategic nuclear unit that plays a key role in operating ballistic missiles with the range to reach the US base on Guam.
The news comes just three days after US President Donald Trump said he was looking forward to a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, scheduled for late February. The White House has not commented on the report.
"North Korea will not discuss what it is hiding. It seems that Pyongyang is playing a game, maintaining the operational capability of its ballistic missile force even after destroying its public nuclear facilities," Victor Cha, a former candidate for US ambassador to South Korea, said when the report was released.
Location of Sino-ri base. Graphics:AFP. |