From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, March 8, 2022
Satellite images show activity at North Korea nuclear site, 4 years after declared closure
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SEOUL, South Korea — Commercial satellite images suggest a resumption of construction activity at North Korea’s nuclear testing ground nearly four years after leader Kim Jong Un declared the site’s closure and invited foreign journalists to observe the destruction of tunnels ahead of his first summit with then-US President Donald Trump.
Analysts say it’s unclear how long it would take North Korea to restore the site for nuclear detonations if it intends to do so. The site in Punggye-ri in the country’s northeast was used for its sixth and last nuclear test in 2017.
The sighting of construction activity at the site comes amid a deepening diplomatic freeze since the collapse of the second Kim-Trump meeting in February 2019, when the Americans rejected North Korean demands for major sanctions relief in exchange for a partial surrender of its nuclear capabilities.
North Korea has used the pause in talks to further expand its military capabilities, including nine rounds of missile launches in 2022 alone. The unusually fast pace indicates an intent to pressure the Biden administration, which has offered open-ended talks but shown no willingness to concede on sanctions.
The Times of Israel Community.