North Korea Has a Secret Long-Range Missile Base Near Chinese Border, Report Says

Site could potentially store intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of striking US mainland, according to CSIS

- Timothy W. Martin

North Korea has a heavily fortified, covert military base that could house its newest long-range ballistic missiles, which are potentially capable of striking the U.S. mainland, according to a new report.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, has identified what it believes is a secret base near the village of Sinpung-dong, about 17 miles from the Chinese border.

According to CSIS, construction of the base started around 2004 and it became operational a decade later. Until recently, however, the site remained undisclosed. CSIS used interviews with informed sources, as well as declassified documents, satellite images and open-source information, to identify the base.

Sinpung-dong is one of roughly 15 to 20 of North Korea's undeclared ballistic-missile bases and support facilities spread across the nation, according to CSIS, which has published reports on nine of these sites. The missiles stored at many of these sites—including Sinpung-dong—can carry nuclear warheads.

North Korea took great pains to conceal the site, said Jennifer Jun, a co-author of the CSIS report. "Sinpung-dong has been the most challenging to find thus far," she said.

What distinguishes the Sinpung-dong missile base from the others is the absence of adjacent launchpads or nearby air-defense systems.