PHOTOS N. Korea building islands for missile launches
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Satellite images of islands off North Korea, gathered by Strategic Sentinel. / Courtesy of Strategic Sentinel
By Lee Han-soo
North Korea is building three islands near Sohae, a port city about 200 kilometers west of Pyongyang, for what appears to be military bases for missile launches, according to the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday.
Sohae is home to the isolated country’s alleged satellite launching site.
Satellite images obtained by the American newspaper showed at least three islands had been under construction since 2012 and all appear to have characteristics of a military base, such as paved roads and rectangular lots, the newspaper said.
The newspaper claimed the North appeared to get the idea of building islands for missile launches from China, which has been creating islands in the South China Sea and using them as forwarding military bases.
“We can’t make definitive statements as to what these islands are being used for,” the newspaper quoted Ryan Barenklau, chief executive of Strategic Sentinel, as saying. “Military use is likely. Roads on the islands feature wide turns, indicating that they could be used for various military vehicles.”