North Korea is not keeping up its promise to dismantle Sohae missile launching facilities as informally agreed in a June 12 summit with United States President Donald Trump by its leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore, if believed to a report lately released by a website named 38 North that is devoted to analysis of the country.
Satellite images obtained on August 16 by 38 North was analyzed and compared to other images received two weeks ago. The website writes no significant dismantlement activity is seen. This mean North Korea has halted the dismantling activity at the facilities.
In images received between July and early August dismantling of key structures was seen in progress at the facilities located in North Pyongyang Province.
The website writes, “Work on the rail-mounted transfer/processing building appears to have stalled… The components previously removed remain stacked on the ground.”
38 North was the first to report late last month that North Korea has started the dismantle work at its Sohae facilities
The halt in dismantling process comes in such a time when there has been a deadlock in the dialogue between the two countries in which Trump is seeking complete denuclearization against guaranteeing survival of the Kim regime.
The previous report of dismantling was seen as a goodwill gesture by the Kim regime as the Sohae facilities were believed to be the test site for some of the largest liquid-fuel engines for long-range missiles.
However, some experts believe Sohae facilities no longer is an important epicentre for the country’s weapons programme.
