North Korea appears to have razed towns near one of the country's key missile and satellite launching stations in a sign of possible expansion plans, adding to security concerns in a region already facing uncertainties as the war in Iran drags on. Two villages, including hundreds of buildings, bordering the Sohae satellite launching station on the country's western coast were demolished in March, the 38 North program at the Stimson Center said in the report released on Thursday.
"Given how satellites and anti-satellite weaponry are in the country's new five-year plan, expansion of North Korea's main space center may be underway,” Martyn Williams, a senior fellow for the Stimson Center, said in the report.
North Korea announced its new strategic plan for the country in February, covering the period through 2030 and setting out key strategic goals including putting additional spy satellites in orbit.
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The report comes just days after North Korea said it tested a new solid-fuel engine to upgrade its military's strategic strike capabilities. North Korea has been accelerating its push to develop its nuclear and missile capabilities as leader Kim Jong Un emerged as a key ally of Russia's war against Ukraine.
North Korea did not disclose where the test took place but the 38 North report said it appears to have been conducted at the Sohae site, citing photos released by state media.
The new engine, which North Korea claimed is about 20% more powerful than the one it revealed last year, is likely for an intercontinental ballistic missile, said Vann H. Van Diepen, a former State Department official.
“For both the new motor and its predecessor, the most likely purpose of their increased thrust would be in boosting heavier payloads; the most strategically impactful such payload would be multiple warheads if the North can successfully develop them,” Diepen said in a separate 38 North analysis.
A confirmed expansion of the site, also known as Tongchang-ri, would add to security concerns that have recently ratcheted up in the region.
President Donald Trump has piled pressure on allies including South Korea to help open the Strait of Hormuz. Trump has said South Korea has not been helpful in the US efforts to reopen the strategic waterway despite having tens of thousands of American troops on its soil, to help defend it against a neighboring “nuclear force.”
The conflict in the Middle East is also raising concerns over a shift of American firepower away from Asia as the war drags on.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has confirmed the US may need to relocate air defense assets to the Middle East amid reports that multiple launchers of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system were spotted moving out of a southern base.
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