North Korea has razed a city near one of the country’s key missile and satellite testing sites in what appears to be a sign of possible expansion plans, adding to security concerns in a region already facing uncertainty as the war with Iran drags on.
Two villages, including hundreds of buildings, bordering the Sohae satellite launch station on the country’s west coast were destroyed in March, the Stimson Center’s 38 North program said in a report released Thursday.
“Given how satellites and anti-satellite weapons are in the country’s new five-year plan, expansion of North Korea’s main space center may be underway,” Martyn Williams, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center, said in the report.
North Korea announced its new strategic plan for the country in February, covering the period until 2030 and setting out key strategic goals, including putting more spy satellites into orbit. In 2023, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks at Russia’s Vostochny Cosmodrome space center, raising concerns about Moscow helping to support Kim’s space program.
The news comes just days after North Korea said it was testing a new solid-fuel engine to improve its military’s strategic strike capabilities. North Korea has stepped up its push to develop its nuclear and missile capabilities as Kim has emerged as a key ally in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
North Korea did not disclose where the test took place, but a report by 38 North said it appeared to have been conducted at the Sohae site, citing photos released by state media.
The new engine, which North Korea has claimed is about 20% more powerful than the one it unveiled last year, is likely for an intercontinental ballistic missile, said Vann H. Van Diepen, a former State Department official.
“For both the new engine and its predecessor, the most likely purpose of their increased thrust would be to increase heavier payloads; the most strategically impressive such payload would be multiple warheads if North can successfully develop them,” Diepen said in a separate analysis by 38 North.
The confirmed expansion of the site, also known as Tongchang-ri, would add to security concerns that have recently spread in the region.
President Donald Trump has put pressure on allies including South Korea to help open the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said South Korea had not helped in the US effort to reopen the strategic waterway, despite having tens of thousands of US troops on its territory to help defend it against a neighboring “nuclear power”.
The conflict in the Middle East also raises concerns about shifting American firepower from Asia as the war drags on.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has confirmed that the US may have to move air defense assets to the Middle East amid reports that several Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system launchers have been spotted moving from a southern base.
This article was generated from an automated news agency source without text modification.
