'Facility near Pyongyang airport may be linked to NK missile program'

A U.S. think tank reported Tuesday that the country may be nearing completion of a site linked to Kim Jong-un's missile program. Yonhap

By Do Je-hae

A U.S. think tank, Beyond Parallel, has reported the possibility that North Korea may be nearing completion of a new site in relation to its missile program near Pyongyang Sunan International Airport.

In a report Tuesday, the think tank said the facility, which has been under construction since 2016, “is likely designed to support ballistic missile operations and for the interim is identified as the Sil-li Ballistic Missile Support Facility.”

The report underlined that some of the buildings on the site were tall enough to accommodate the Hwasong-14 or Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) on their transporter-erector-launchers (TEL).

“The facility has been constructed next to an underground facility whose likely size is also large enough to easily accommodate all known North Korean ballistic missiles and their associated launchers and support vehicles,” the report stated.

The report also noted that it was close to ballistic missile component manufacturing plants in Pyongyang, in addition to having some unique features, including interconnected buildings designed for drive-through access and an “unusually large” covered rail terminal.

The analysis was prepared in conjunction with Jane's Intelligence Review.

But some experts raised doubt over the report's claim that the facility is “almost certainly” linked to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's missile program.

“We will need more research to find out if the site actually has to do with ICBMs,” said Cho Sung-ryul, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy (INSS), in a radio interview Wednesday.

He said the facility likely has more to do with the expansion of Sunan Airport.

“North Korean airports are normally used by civilian aircraft, but missile units are deployed there because military aircraft have to be flown in case of emergencies,” Cho said.

“Because the airport has been expanded, North Korea may have found the need to deploy missile bases and missile units to defend it,” he said. “It is premature to conclude that the facility is for launching ICBMs.”