New activity was detected at North Korea’s east coast Sinpo South Shipyard.
May 5 (UPI) — New activity was detected at North Korea ‘s east coast Sinpo South Shipyard in late April, a sign that is inviting speculation over whether North Korea is moving forward with its submarine-launched ballistic missile program.
Commercial satellite imagery taken April 29 and published by 38 North, a Johns Hopkins University website dedicated to North Korea issues, shows a « heavy-lift crane with its stabilizer legs deployed and boom extended out over the test stand’s service tower, » writes Joseph S. Bermudez, Jr.
But the image, which includes a 13-meter-long flatbed truck adjacent to the tower, is of « insufficient resolution, » the analyst stated.
The activity could be showing maintenance or test preparations, according to the report.
Other areas of the shipyard appeared to be less busy. The GORAE-class experimental ballistic missile submarine has been stationed at the same location for « at least a year, » according to Bermudez.
A new building that began in 2016 was also making « slow progress, » but no other changes of « significance » could be seen, the analyst writes.
Other new construction, including a 225-meter-long hall and a 200-meter L-shaped pier that began in 2012, is developing at a slow pace.
Images from an earlier week in April show Pyongyang has placed a second test barge for SLBMs, at Nampo Naval Shipyard on North Korea’s western coast.
The first barge was found at Sinpo South Shipyard, where as many as six SLBM launches took place since 2014.
In 2016, North Korea tested SLBMs in April, July and August. The missile tested in August flew more than 300 miles.
North Korea may have also undertaken a SLBM test in December, as part of Pyongyang’s plan to secure the ability to « cold launch » through a vertical launch system, in which the missile is ejected by gas.
