Posted on 03/08/2019 2:43:33 PM PST by Mariner
Commercial satellite imagery of a facility near Pyongyang suggests that North Korea is preparing to launch a missile or space rocket in the near future.
The images are of a site known as Sanumdong — a facility where North Korea has assembled some of its intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and satellite-launching rockets. The images taken Feb. 22 by DigitalGlobe and shared exclusively with NPR show cars and trucks parked near the facility. Rail cars sit in a nearby rail yard, where two cranes are also erected.
"When you put that all that together, that's really what it looks like when the North Koreans are in the process of building a rocket," says Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Project at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, who has studied the images.
News of the activity comes just days after other satellite imagery showed that North Korea has rapidly rebuilt a satellite launch facility on the country's west coast. Known as the Sohae Satellite Launching Station, the site has been used for several attempted space launches over the years, most recently in 2016. The Sohae facility, sometimes called Dongchang-ri and Tongchang-ri, was partially dismantled after President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held their first summit in June 2018. Imagery taken Wednesday suggests it may be operational again.
(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...
OK guys. Do “rods from God” really exist?
An incipient launch would be a great place for a demo.
if the missile goes up then the sanctions go up, way up
One can just see the NPR staff high-fiving each other.
“way up”
The sanctions have not been relaxed.
All we can do is ENFORCE A BLOCKADE. And that means hitting Chinese and Russian assets.
“One can just see the NPR staff high-fiving each other.”
Only if they hope for terrible war and Trump’s reelection.
Perhaps they would rather see that than a Peace Prize?
Your link talks about theoretical possibility, but not existence.
Over the years I’ve heard these mentioned, but never knew whether the theory had been put into practice.
There’s no doubt there would be a big bang from a gravity accelerated weapon. Accuracy? I have no idea. In orbit now? I have no idea.
The Navy has proven recently they can hit assets without even trying so I hope they’re not thinking about a blockade. I should have been more clear, way up = additional.
Maybe a North Korean BBQ is in store.
i read somewhere that a deal was in the offing, but at the 11th hour John Bolton demanded that chemical weapons be a part of the equation.
That is what killed the deal.
Anyone know if that’s what really happened?
And the U.S.-South Korea military exercises will return and be increased.
Did you even read the article you posted?
“While doubts remain about the missile’s ability to carry a heavy nuclear warhead, it’s known that North Korea wants long-range missiles to hold targets in the US at risk.
Fortunately, unlike an attack from a nuclear peer state like Russia, North Korea’s less-advanced missiles would only be expected to hit a few key targets in the US. And even that limited attack would still take North Korea years to prepare for, since it still needs to perfect its missiles engines with more tests, in addition to guidance systems. It also needs to build and deploy enough of them to survive US missile defenses.”
We will have a frequency jamming AWAC nearby and it will surprisingly explode for unknown reasons.
With those screw-jobs, who knows...
The Navy has proven recently they can hit assets without even trying
Maybe this is naive, but is it at all possible the activities being viewed are the result of them dismantling their facilities? Seems without key details, it would be difficult to tell which was happening. Trucks go in, trucks come out - does NPR know whether they were bringing things in or taking them out? Cranes could easily be used to remove equipment as well as installing it.
But of course NPR wouldn’t speculate without at least researching the facts...
NPR says that the Norks are tricking Trump. If you can’t trust NPR and a policy studies bunch on Monterrey, who can you trust?
“All we can do is ENFORCE A BLOCKADE. And that means hitting Chinese and Russian assets.”
Are you literally suggesting attacking Chinese or Russian ships? Guess I better get some SPF 5 million sunscreen.
BTW, you are aware that China and Russia share a land border with North Korea? You think you need to do some interdiction bombing in those areas?
Please, say more crazy things because you take an NPR report at face value.
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