There is no visible indication that North Korea has begun dismantling missile launch sites as reportedly promised, according to satellite imagery shared by 38 North.
The program, hosted by the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, analyzed and posted imagery of the known locations of North Korea’s missile launch facilities on Thursday and Friday. According to the analysis, 38 North reported that it could not identify “any activity associated with the dismantlement” at any testing sites.
There are six known launch and engine testing facilities as well as two eject test stands scattered throughout North Korea.
“Of these facilities and test stands, it is likely that President [Donald] Trump’s comment on June 12 regarding the destruction of a ‘… major missile engine testing site’ was not referring to either the Iha-ri test stand—which was razed in May—or the Sinpo South Shipyard test stand that has not been used in approximately a year. And contrary to the president’s statement, both sites have been solely used for ejection tests, not engine tests or launches,” the report indicated.
Following up on our report from yesterday, recent commercial satellite imagery shows no alterations or activity to any of the #DPRK‘s six known launch and engine test facilities and two ejection test stands https://t.co/0EtzJ6ZvRH
— 38 North (@38NorthNK) 15 June 2018
Following the historic Singapore summit on June 12, President Donald Trump told reporters that North Korea had “blown up their missile area.” He also said that his team had secured a “commitment” from Pyongyang “to destroy the missile engine testing site” and that Kim would “close it up.” The president did not specify which precise sites he was referring to.
Since the summit, many critics have argued that Trump made numerous concessions without getting concrete promises from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. A classified Israeli report shared by Axios shed doubts on the positive spin the president put on the summit.
