Free Republic

In the aftermath of the Hanoi Summit, President Trump has been barraged with attempts to undermine his confidence in the good faith of Kim Jong Un and his intentions to deal fairly with the United States in the negotiation process concerning denuclearization and de-escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula. One of the primary causes of concern has been a series of reports from NBC News claiming that “commercial” satellite footage shows that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has been engaging in fresh construction at their Sohae Launch Facility in preparation for an alleged missile launch or test....

The U.S. is "watching in real time" developments at a long-range rocket site that North Korea is believed to have rebuilt, a senior State Department official said Thursday. The Sohae facility has been used in the past for satellite launches that employ similar technology to what is required to fire intercontinental ballistic missiles. It is now back to "normal operating status," according to new commercial images and analysis from two teams of researchers...(snip) ...The State Department official said that while it is important for North Korea to act as it had promised, the U.S. side did not see Sohae as...

Reports of a recent briefing by South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) to the National Assembly’s intelligence committee noted that North Korea has started restoring structures on the rocket launch pad at its Sohae Satellite Launching Station (Tongchang-ri). The North had previously started to dismantle the rail-mounted transfer building on the launch pad along with the engine test stand last year at the beginning of US-DPRK negotiations. While progress was quick at first, both the launch pad and engine test stand had remained in about the same condition since August 2018. However, based on commercial satellite imagery, efforts to...