Satellite Images Indicate That North Korea is Improving its Nuclear Facilities

Weeks after the conclusion of the U.S.-North Korea summit, satellite footage of one of North Korea’s nuclear facilities was released. In the images, rapid and radical changes can be seen being made to the facility’s infrastructure. These changes have been completed without any public announcement. The aforementioned facility is called the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center, and its rapid development comes soon after North Korea’s signed commitment to denuclearization at the recent diplomatic summit with the United States.

The images of the facilities, which were captured on June 21st, showed an advancement in the facility’s plutonium production reactor as well as the construction of several support facilities. These upgrades were planned before talks of the summit even began, and the fact that they have still occurred could indicate that North Korea does not plan to follow through with their stated commitment, either quickly or at all.

The U.S. has already moved to cancel its planned military drills over the Korean peninsula at Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un’s request.

The reports of North Korea’s advancements were released by 38 North, a prominent local monitoring group. They have stated that their report cannot be currently confirmed and discouraged people from relating these events to the denuclearization process and commitment. However, not many have chosen to believe this statement, as the facilities have continued to work as usual, if not better than before.

Shortly after the summit between the two leaders, President Donald Trump controversially stated that North Korea was no longer considered to be a nuclear threat. Trump stated this despite the fact that North Korea did not specify how exactly they would proceed to denuclearize.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was quick to clarify the president’s remarks, saying:

“I’m confident what he intended there was we did reduce the threat. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. We took the tension level down. I think his point was a fair one. For the moment, we have reduced risk.”

Pompeo and other White House officials have struggled to work around Trump’s recent rhetoric, as he has repeatedly stated that North Korea is ready to denuclearize right away despite the fact that this statement has not been confirmed by either North Korea or other U.S. officials.

Trump has also attempted to argue that North Korea has already started the denuclearization process, citing the country’s recent lack of nuclear weapon tests. Trump’s argument does not prove his point, however, as specialists have pointed out that the country may still continue to grow its nuclear arsenal without explicitly showing the process.

Specialists in foreign policy and politics are not surprised in any way by the images released on Wednesday, and some even stated that they expected North Korea to proceed this way. The lack of a concrete, detailed, and openly discussed commitment to denuclearization has shown that the country is not yet willing to give up their previous dependence on nuclear weapons for national safety.

The Director of the Federation of American Scientists, Adam Mount, discussed his take on the images with CNN. He stated:

“Because Kim Jong Un has so far avoided making a commitment to halt research and development activities, the changes are not a success or failure of the diplomatic process, but simply a signal that North Korea’s nuclear infrastructure remains fully in use.”

It is also assumed that other North Korean nuclear facilities still remain operational, despite the fact that monitoring groups cannot reach them.

Featured Image via Wikimedia Commons