Pyongyang may use its islands located close to the country’s Sohae rocket testing compound as missile launch sites, according to a Washington-based firm that provides geospatial and intelligence analysis.
Strategical Sentinel made their assumptions after evaluating satellite images of the islands, some of which are man-made, according to the group. The Google Earth images from December 2016 show “paved, rectangular lots” and wide roads – installations that could host ballistic missiles and transporter erector launchers, according to the firm’s analysis, published in Diplomat magazine.
Although the photographs don’ t provide evidence of supportive infrastructure necessary for missile deployment, they could have been finished by now, since those pictures were taken in December 2016, the report says.
“Some of the islands look like offensive asset deployment sites — that is, ballistic missile launch pads” the Sentinel’s research says, although adding that it would be not a “wise choice.”
Instead, the images analyzed suggest that “anti-air missile sites would be a strategically wiser choice.
