New satellite imagery has been obtained by CNN that discloses North Korea has recently taken steps to hide a facility, US intelligence agencies believe, is being used to stock nuclear weapons. It is considered a move that could add to the already growing urgency wherein the Biden administration must articulate a clear strategy on how to deal with North Korea moving ahead.
On February 11, the image was captured by Maxar and examined by experts at the Middlebury Institute. The satellite imagery reveals North Korea built new structures at its Yongdoktong site over the course of 2020. It is an effort researchers feel is likely intended to conceal a pair of underground tunnel entrances that lead to the facility where nuclear weapons are stocked.
“Images released by Maxar show the pair of tunnel entrances as late as December 2019 and a new building-like structure visible by February 2021,” according to Jeffrey Lewis, a professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, which specializes in open-source intelligence.
In the past as well Yongdoktong has been identified by US intelligence as a suspected nuclear weapon storage facility of North Korea. It is still believed to be utilized for that purpose, a US intelligence official told CNN.
North Korea has been continuously actively developing nuclear weapons at sites around the country while taking further steps towards camouflaging the stock they had already hoarded.
Lawmakers and key US allies are looking forward to President Joe Biden’s North Korea policy, which is expected to be announced publicly in the upcoming weeks once the administration has completed a policy review, according to multiple sources familiar with the internal discussions.
“No matter how comical the effort, North Korea continues to upgrade its nuclear weapons facilities and makes efforts to conceal them,” Lewis said, referring to the fact that US intelligence agencies have been keeping an eye over the site for years.
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