A study by a North Korean watchdog has found a new military base tucked away on the Chinese border could launch a missile to hit the United States
A secret military base has popped up on North Korea’s border with China – which could harbour its world-ending ballistic missiles.
The base, which is in North Pyongan Province, is 17 miles from the Chinese border. The existence of the structure was exposed by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in a paper published on Wednesday.
It’s thought the covert site was built in 2004, but was used as an operational military site around 10 years later. Using a mix of satellite imagery and declassified documents, CSIS was able to expose the site as a military base, which is thought to harbour six to nine warhead-wielding ICBMs.
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The site, which is around the size of JFK airport in New York, could also hold launchers and the trucks that have been adapted to transport them. Analysts have warned the site is especially dangerous because there are no launch pads or air-defence systems.
They believe this means the site contains solid-fuel ICBMs which can be launched far more quickly than their counterparts. It means they’re difficult to detect and even harder to carry out a pre-emptive strike.
The CSIS has gone so far to say the weapons “pose a potential nuclear threat to East Asia and the continental United States”. There are at least 15 undeclared missile sites across the country, according to reports, including missile bases and warhead depots. CSIS analysts say this is the first confirmation of the site in Sinpung-dong.
Current estimates suggest North Korea has an arsenal of 50 nuclear warheads and enough material to build 50 more. The fear is that this base could deploy the warheads to other parts of the country from where they would be fired.
Victor Cha, co-author of the report, said North Korea chose the location, which is close to the Chinese border, to make it more difficult for US planes to destroy it.
Kim Jong-un has recently called for a “rapid expansion” of North Korea’s nuclear program. The study says the discovery of the base is part of the country’s evolving strategy regarding ballistic missiles.
It comes a week after Russian President Vladimir Putin did a deal with North Korean despot Kim Jong-un to recruit another 6,000 troops for his war in Ukraine.
Ukrainian intelligence believes Kim Jong-un agreed to sell Putin another 100 tanks and even more armoured personnel carriers to bolster his assault on the frontline.