North Korea may be preparing for a missile or space launch, US news outlet NPR has reported, based on satellite image analysis of a key facility near Pyongyang. NPR said the images of Sanumdong, one of the facilities Pyongyang has used to produce inter-continental ballistic missiles and space rockets, were taken days before US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met in Hanoi for their high-stakes summit, which ended in failure. The photos by the firm DigitalGlobe show the presence of cars and trucks at the site on Feb. 22, said NPR — which has exclusive access to the imagery. It added that rail cars and cranes can also be seen at a yard. "When you put all that together, that's really what it looks like when the North Koreans are in the process of building a rocket," Jeffrey Lewis, a researcher at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, was quoted as saying by NPR on Friday. The Sanumdong analysis comes days after the specialized website 38 North and the Center for Strategic and International Studies said Pyongyang may have resumed operations at its long-range rocket launch site at Sohae, based on their study of satellite imagery from March 6. The development is likely to further compound Washington's frustration over the lack of progress in its bid to get the North to give up its atomic arsenal, especially after the Feb. 27-28 summit between Trump and Kim collapsed without so much as a joint statement — let alone an agreement on nuclear disarmament. According to senior US officials, in the week leading up to the Hanoi summit, the North Koreans had demanded the lifting of effectively all UN Security Council economic sanctions imposed on Pyongyang since March 2016. In return, Pyongyang offered only to close part of the Yongbyon complex, a sprawling site covering multiple facilities. The North is also believed to have other uranium enrichment plants. But North Korean foreign minister Ri Yong Ho disputed the US account, saying Pyongyang offered to dismantle all "nuclear production facilities in the Yongbyon area" in exchange for partial sanctions relief. Meanwhile, Trump said on Friday he would be disappointed if Pyongyang were to resume weapons testing and reiterated his belief in his good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un despite the collapse last week of their second summit. "I would be surprised in a negative way if he did anything that was not per our understanding. But we'll see what happens," Trump told reporters. "I would be very disappointed if I saw testing." Trump's comments came after two US think tanks and Seoul's spy agency said this week that North Korea was rebuilding a rocket launch site at Sohae in the west of the country. There have also been reports from South Korea's intelligence service of new activity at a factory at Sanumdong near Pyongyang that produced North Korea's first intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the United States. Other experts, including Joel Wit at 38 North and Michael Elleman of the International Institute for Strategic Studies considered the conclusion speculative. "In the past there have been multiple reports about activity at this place that turned out to be false alarms," Wit said, referring to Sanumdong. "It could either be preparation for an eventual launch or not." The White House and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The State Department declined to comment. — Agencies
