Undeclared North Korea: Sinpung-dong Missile Operating Base
How did your country report this? Share your view in the comments.
Diverging Reports Breakdown
North Korea Secretly Operating Missile Base Near Chinese Border, Think Tank Reveals
The Sinpung-dong Missile Operating Base in North Pyongan Province likely houses six to nine ICBMs. The base began construction around 2004 and became operational a decade later. It is believed to play a central role in North Korea’s strategy of rapid-launch capabilities. The discovery comes just days after Kim Jong Un called for the “rapid expansion” of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, a move that coincides with ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said Wednesday that the Sinpung-dong Missile Operating Base in North Pyongan Province likely houses a brigade-sized unit with six to nine nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and their mobile launchers. The missiles, the think tank warned, pose a potential nuclear threat not only to East Asia but also to the continental United States.
Satellite imagery analyzed by CSIS shows the base, which began construction around 2004 and became operational a decade later, has been continuously upgraded in recent years. The facility is believed to play a central role in North Korea’s strategy of rapid-launch capabilities, allowing missiles and mobile launchers to disperse to pre-surveyed sites during crises or conflict.
“Sinpung-dong is one of the 15 to 20 undeclared ballistic missile bases North Korea operates,” CSIS said, adding that its location near China offers Pyongyang an added layer of protection from potential U.S. or South Korean strikes.
The revelation underscores how North Korea’s nuclear arsenal is more expansive, dispersed, and survivable than many outside assessments have previously suggested. It also complicates Washington’s options for a preemptive strike, while raising concerns in Beijing about destabilizing military activity so close to its border.
The discovery comes just days after Kim Jong Un called for the “rapid expansion” of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal, a move that coincides with ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills that Pyongyang regularly denounces as rehearsals for war.
Kim, who has deepened ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin by openly supporting Moscow’s war in Ukraine, has rejected renewed dialogue with Washington. Despite three high-profile meetings with then-President Donald Trump during his first term, Pyongyang has pressed ahead with its nuclear weapons program.
Earlier this week, Kim declared that the only way to safeguard North Korea’s security is to ensure its enemies are “afraid,” vowing that his regime’s nuclear capabilities would be demonstrated through “practical actions.”
South Korea’s Defense Ministry did not immediately comment on the CSIS report.
Covert North Korean military base could house missiles that could reach US
The Sinpung-dong Ballistic Missile Operating Base is located in Taegwan-gun County. It’s one of 15-20 similar ones that North Korea has failed to declare that store ballistic missiles. The missiles believed to be housed in it can reach the U.S. mainland. Construction on the base reportedly began around 2004 — but plans were in place since the ’80s, an open-source study says.. It represents the primary components of what’s presumed to be North Korea’s. evolving ballistic missile strategy and its expanding strategic nuclear deterrence and. strike capabilities, Beyond Parallel said. The base is believed to have been built using specialized engineering troops from the KPA’s Military Construction Bureau.
Current assessments indicate that, during times of crisis or war, the launchers and missiles would exit the base and then meet special warhead storage and transportation units, then would be used to conduct launch operations from dispersed, pre-surveyed sites, according to the organization. The base is one of 15-20 similar ones that North Korea has failed to declare that store ballistic missiles and are used for maintenance, support, missile and warhead storage. But what’s significant about this undeclared base is that the missiles believed to be housed in it can reach the U.S. mainland. It was also notably not part of any denuclearization talks between North Korea and the U.S., and it likely flew under the radar for decades before the in-depth, open-source study conducted by Beyond Parallel and The Center for Strategic and International Studies, which is based in Washington, D.C. It ultimately represents the primary components of what’s presumed to be North Korea’s evolving ballistic missile strategy and its expanding strategic nuclear deterrence and strike capabilities, Beyond Parallel said. Two decades of development, only now brought to light The Sinpung-dong Ballistic Missile Operating Base is located in Taegwan-gun County, about 7.5 miles northeast of the North Korean city of Taegwan. That’s just under 17 miles from the country’s border with China and about 91 miles north-northwest of North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang. It’s about 211 miles northwest of Seoul, the capital of South Korea. Man in California jailed after shipping weapons to North Korea for ‘surprise attack’
Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un make chilling new pact as Trump meeting looms
North Koreans sent to work like slaves in Russia, South Korea claims
Construction on the base reportedly began around 2004 — but plans were in place since the ’80s
Satellite imagery indicates that the base has been active and well-maintained — at least by North Korean standards — since 2004, and since then, it’s continued to be developed, satellite images analyzed by Beyond Parallel indicate. The base is part of what’s been dubbed the North Korean missile belt, which includes the missile operating bases at Hoejung-ni, Sangnam-ni, Yongjo-ri and Yongnim. The belt itself is considered a component of a widely dispersed, nationwide, hardened ballistic missile network operated by the Strategic Force, an organization in the Korean People’s Army (KPA) responsible for the undeclared bases. It’s believed that construction on the base began sometime around 2004, and it was generally complete and operational by 2014. As with other missile operating bases within the ballistic missile belt, it’s believed to have been built using specialized engineering troops from the KPA’s Military Construction Bureau, according to Beyond Parallel. “This ten-year construction timeline, when taken in context with the construction of the other strategic ballistic missile belt’s missile bases, suggests a considerable level of North Korean developmental planning that is rarely appreciated outside the Korean Peninsula,” the organization wrote. It added that there’s “an even chance” that all ongoing improvement projects since 2014 are related to a combination of ongoing IRBM and ICBM developments, basing requirements and organizational developments.
Trending
North Korea has secret military base that may pose threat to east Asia and US, new report says
The Sinpung-dong missile operating base lies about 27km (17 miles) from the Chinese frontier. The facility in North Pyongan province likely houses six to nine nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and their launchers, the study said. It said the weapons “pose a potential nuclear threat to east Asia and the continental United States’. North Korea has ramped up its nuclear weapons programme since a failed summit with the United States in 2019, and leader Kim Jong-un recently called for the “rapid expansion” of the nation’s nuclear capability.
The “undeclared” Sinpung-dong missile operating base lies about 27km (17 miles) from the Chinese frontier, the Washington-based thinktank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said in a report published on Wednesday.
The facility in North Pyongan province likely houses six to nine nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and their launchers, the study said.
It said the weapons “pose a potential nuclear threat to east Asia and the continental United States”.
North Korea has ramped up its nuclear weapons programme since a failed summit with the United States in 2019, and leader Kim Jong-un recently called for the “rapid expansion” of the diplomatically isolated nation’s nuclear capability.
The report – which CSIS called the first in-depth, open-source confirmation of Sinpung-dong – said the base is one of about “15-20 ballistic missile bases, maintenance, support, missile storage, and warhead storage facilities which North Korea has never declared”.
The facility is “not known to have been the subject of any denuclearisation negotiations previously conducted between the United States and North Korea”, the study said.
Citing their analysts’ current assessments, CSIS said the launchers and missiles could leave the base in times of crisis or war, link up with special units and conduct harder-to-detect launches from other parts of the country.
The base, along with others, “represent the primary components of what is presumed to be North Korea’s evolving ballistic missile strategy, and its expanding strategic-level nuclear deterrence and strike capabilities”, the report said.
Kim’s 2019 summit with US President Donald Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam, collapsed because the two sides disagreed on what Pyongyang would concede in return for sanctions relief.
Since then, North Korea has repeatedly said it will never give up its weapons and declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear state.
And in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Pyongyang has drawn closer to Moscow.
South Korean and western intelligence agencies have said the North sent over 10,000 soldiers to Russia in 2024 – primarily to the Kursk region – along with artillery shells, missiles and long-range rocket systems.
Trump has held high-profile talks with Russian and Ukrainian leaders in recent days in a bid to end the conflict.
Washington has said there is evidence that Russia is stepping up support for North Korea, including providing help on advanced space and satellite technology, in return for its assistance in fighting Ukraine.
Analysts say satellite launchers and ICBMs share much of the same underlying technology.
DPRK secretly deployed state-of-the-art intercontinental missiles near the border with China
The base is located in North Pyongan province, near the Chinese border. It is believed to have six to nine intercontinental ballistic missiles. The weapons could pose a threat to East Asia and the U.S., according to a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Details
According to a new study, North Korea has built a secret military base near the border with China. A report by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) states that the “undeclared” Sinpung-dong missile operating base is located approximately 27 km from the Chinese border.
The base, located in North Pyongan province, likely houses six to nine nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles and their launchers.
The report also notes that these weapons “pose a potential nuclear threat to East Asia and the continental United States.”
The first comprehensive open-source confirmation of the Sinpung-dong base, it is noted, also states that this facility is one of “15-20 ballistic missile bases, maintenance facilities, and warhead storage sites that North Korea has never declared,” Barrons reports.
Recall
Recently, the North Korean dictator was enraged by US and South Korean military exercises. Kim Jong Un announced his intention to strengthen North Korea’s nuclear potential.
North Korea banned foreigners from visiting its “mega-resort” Wonsan Kalma
U.S. monitor unveils undeclared N.K. missile base likely housing nuclear-capable ICBMs
The base is in North Pyongan Province, about 25 kilometers from the border with China. It likely houses six to nine nuclear capable Hwasong-15 or -18 ICBMs, U.S. monitor says. The base is not known to have been the subject of any denuclearization negotiations. It is one of North Korea’s approximately 15 to 20 ballistic missile bases, maintenance, support, missile storage, and warhead storage facilities that the reclusive regime has never declared, it says.”These missiles pose a potential nuclear threat to East Asia and the continental United States,” it adds.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 20 (Yonhap) — North Korea has an undeclared ballistic missile operating base near its border with China, which likely possesses intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of reaching the continental United States, a U.S. monitor confirmed Wednesday.
Beyond Parallel, a project of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, unveiled the Sinpung-dong Missile Operating Base in North Pyongan Province, about 25 kilometers from the border with China, as it released its analysis of satellite imagery taken July 11.
It marks the first open-source study confirming the base, according to the monitor.
“Preliminary analysis suggests that the base likely houses a brigade-sized unit equipped with a total of six to nine nuclear capable Hwasong-15 or -18 ICBMs, or an as yet unknown ICBM, and their transporter-erector-launchers (TEL) or mobile-erector-launchers (MEL),” it said in a report posted on its website.
“These missiles pose a potential nuclear threat to East Asia and the continental United States,” it added.
Hwasong-15 and 18 ICBMs are known to be liquid-fuel and solid-propellant ones, respectively, which put the U.S. mainland in range.
This file photo, carried by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency on Nov. 1, 2024, shows the North firing its new Hwasong-19 intercontinental ballistic missile the previous day, guided by its leader Kim Jong-un. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
Construction of the base began around 2004 and was generally complete and operational by 2014, it said, noting the possibility that ongoing improvements since 2014 are related to a combination of ongoing intermediate-range ballistic missile and ICBM developments, basing requirements and organizational developments.
Current assessments show that during times of crisis or war, launchers and missiles in the base will exit the base, meet special warhead storage and transportation units, and conduct launch operations from dispersed pre-surveyed sites, the monitor noted.
“The Sinpung-dong Missile Operating Base and the other missile bases within North Korea’s strategic ballistic missile belt … represent the primary components of what is presumed to be North Korea’s evolving ballistic missile strategy, and its expanding strategic-level nuclear deterrence and strike capabilities,” it said.
The base is one of North Korea’s approximately 15 to 20 ballistic missile bases, maintenance, support, missile storage, and warhead storage facilities that the reclusive regime has never declared, according to it.
“The Sinpung-dong Missile Operating Base is not known to have been the subject of any denuclearization negotiations previously conducted between the United States and North Korea,” it said.
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)