US official tells VOA Pyongyang ‘has a big job to do’ and that skepticism will remain until verifiable denuclearization deal is in place
North Korean efforts to upgrade and expand a long-range missile base come as no surprise to U. S. intelligence officials, who have long been wary of promises by Pyongyang to denuclearize.
New satellite imagery shows what appears to be improvements to the Yeongjeo-dong missile base, a facility located in North Korea’s mountainous interior, as well as work on a new facility, Hoejung-ri, 11 kilometers (seven miles) away.
“Our analytical line has not changed” a U. S. intelligence official told VOA, when asked about the images. “North Korea has a big job to do. Until it has fully panned out and they have done their part, we have to be skeptical”
The images, obtained by CNN, indicate North Korea began building a large, underground facility in 2017 and that construction was still ongoing as of August of this year.
Researchers at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, who analyzed the satellite imagery, said this is the first time the Hoejung-ri site has been publicly identified, describing the work being done there as “significant.
