Images suggest dismantling of N. Korea test site

Work being undertaken at the site cannot be verified by outside experts

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has begun dismantling the facilities at the satellite launch station in Sohae, according to an analysis of commercial satellite imagery released on 38 North, a U.S.-based website focused on North Korea that is affiliated with the Stimson Center in Washington.

The Sohae location has been the main site for North Korean satellite launches since 2012. The testing facilities at the site are thought to play a role in the development of liquid-fuel engines that can also be used in North Korea’s ballistic missile program.

If the analysis of the satellite imagery is accurate, North Korea may be taking a small but significant step toward the disarmament that was agreed upon by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump during a landmark meeting in Singapore on June 12.

After that summit, Trump said Kim had pledged to dismantle a missile site. U.S. officials later confirmed that the site the U.S. president was referring to was Sohae. However, the lack of visible progress toward that pledge was one factor that soon served to undermine the agreements reached between Kim and Trump.

The images published by 38 North were taken by the commercial companies Digital Globe and Airbus Defense and Space on July 20 and July 22, respectively.

In one set of images, it appears that a rail-mounted processing building is being dismantled. This building is where space launch vehicles are assembled before they are moved to the launchpad, according to 38 North analyst Joseph Bermudez Jr.

Separately, images show activity around a vertical engine test stand at Sohae. Bermudez notes that in the images from July 22, the test stand appears to have been “completely dismantled,” adding that “given the state of activity, work is likely to have begun sometime within the past two weeks.”

On Twitter, 38 North’s founder, Joel Wit, said the images suggested that North Korea may be willing to “give up its space launch program.” Wit, a former State Department negotiator with North Korea and a consistent advocate for dialogue with Pyongyang, said such a move would be just one step in the right direction, “but an important one.”

However, the dismantlement of the facilities at Sohae appears to have taken place without outside experts there to verify it.