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North Korea’s secret Sinpung-dong base near China may house nuclear-capable ICBMs, posing threats to East Asia and the US.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
North Korea has built a secret military base near its frontier with China that may house Pyongyang’s newest long-range ballistic missiles, according to new research. The “undeclared” Sinpung-dong missile operating base, located about 27km (17 miles) from the Chinese border in North Pyongan province, likely houses six to nine nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and their launchers, the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said in its report.
CSIS described the report as the first in-depth, open-source confirmation of the Sinpung-dong facility, calling it one of 15–20 ballistic missile bases and associated storage sites North Korea has never declared. The study warned that the weapons “pose a potential nuclear threat to east Asia and the continental United States.”
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The base has not been part of any previous US–North Korea denuclearisation negotiations, the thinktank said. Analysts added that in a crisis, missiles and launchers from the site could disperse and conduct mobile launches elsewhere in the country, making detection and interception more difficult.
The findings come as Pyongyang accelerates its weapons programme following the collapse of Kim Jong-Un’s 2019 summit with then–US president Donald Trump in Hanoi. Kim Jong-Un has since vowed a “rapid expansion” of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal and declared the country an “irreversible” nuclear power.
North Korea has also deepened its ties with Russia since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Western intelligence agencies say Pyongyang has sent more than 10,000 troops and significant quantities of artillery and missiles to Russia, while receiving technical assistance on advanced space and satellite technology in return. Analysts note that satellite launchers and ICBMs share many of the same technologies.
The CSIS report concluded that the Sinpung-dong site, along with other undeclared bases, forms a core part of North Korea’s evolving ballistic missile strategy and its expanding “strategic-level nuclear deterrence and strike capabilities.”
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North Korea
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