Trump ‘very disappointed’ if N. Korea rebuilds site

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said Wednesday he would be “very disappointed” in Kim Jong Un if North Korea is rebuilding a rocket launch site just days after the two boasted of their strong relationship during a summit in Vietnam.

“I would be very disappointed if that is happening,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, cautioning that it was “a very early report.”

Satellite imagery released this week suggested North Korea began rapidly rebuilding the launch site just days after the Vietnam summit between Trump and Kim failed to achieve a breakthrough on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.

The Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, the think tank that obtained and analyzed the images, said it spotted the activity at the Sohae (Tongchang-ri) launch facility in northwestern North Korea.

The Trump-Kim summit ended abruptly Feb. 28 after the two leaders could not agree on how to scale down North Korea’s nuclear program. Kim wanted sanctions relief for dismantling parts of its nuclear facilities. Trump wasn’t willing to give it.

The satellite images were taken March 2.

Joel Wit, a former official at the State Department and the founder of 38 North, a North Korea monitoring website, cautioned against reading too much into the report.

“There is no evidence #DPRK (North Korea) rebuilding of facilities is consistent with preparations for an ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) test,” he wrote on Twitter.

“Aside from the fact that #DPRK has never tested an ICBM from Sohae – it’s a space launch vehicle launch site – preparation for any launch would require a wide range of activities not observed in the imagery,” he added.