Construction spotted at N.Korea nuclear test site: report
STORY: New satellite photos show construction at North Korea’s nuclear testing site, according to U.S.-based analysts.
It raises fears Pyongyang could resume testing major weapons.
Specialists at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies looked at images taken on Friday of the Pung-gye-ri site.
They appeared to show construction of a new building, repair of another one, and what is possibly lumber and sawdust.
Pung-gye-ri is North Korea’s only known nuclear site, where it carried out six tests from 2006 to 2017.
It was closed and dismantled in 2018 when North Korea declared a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear weapons tests.
Leader Kim Jong Un, however, has said he no longer feels bound by that moratorium with denuclearization talks stalled since 2019.
That being said, the U.S. analysts cautioned the area is many months, if not years, from being ready for new nuclear explosions.
North Korea tested a record number of missiles in January, including its largest weapon since 2017.
On Monday, the U.S. and 10 other countries bemoaned the failure of the UN Security Council to condemn those launches,
saying it eroded the credibility both of the council and the global non- proliferation regime.
