Suspicious Activity at Buk Dongchang-ri... Preparing for ICBM?

North Korea launched the Unha-3 from the Dongchang-ri rocket launch site in Cholsan County, North Pyongan Province in 2012.

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] Attention is focused on the movement of buildings at the West Sea Satellite Launch Site in Dongchang-ri, Cholsan County, North Pyongan Province, North Korea. There is speculation that North Korea may be preparing intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) following a series of ballistic missile launches.

On the 12th, the Voice of America (VOA) reported that an analysis of satellite images from the private satellite imagery company Planet Labs revealed that "a mobile building was found about 40 meters west from its original location."

The Dongchang-ri West Sea launch site has a launch pad at the western end for firing rockets, and two buildings at the opposite eastern end, 120 meters away. The two eastern buildings are the main processing building for assembling rocket propulsion units and a mobile building for transporting and erecting rockets, respectively. VOA reported that the mobile building appears to have moved westward.

David Schmerler, a senior researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies and a satellite imagery expert, told VOA that this could be due to modernization work at the launch site ordered by Chairman Kim Jong-un, analyzing that "more space would be needed for improvement work on the two buildings."

Some speculate that since North Korea claimed the medium-range ballistic missile (IRBM) launched on the 4th as a "new weapon," it may effectively be targeting an ICBM. The U.S. government used the term "long range ballistic missile," which includes ICBMs, to describe the missile.

Although North Korea called this missile "new" in the recent Rodong Sinmun report, experts believe it shares many similarities with the existing Hwasong-12. The Hwasong-12 is a ballistic missile with a length of 17.4 meters, a diameter of 1.65 meters, and uses a liquid-fueled first stage. Based on three test firings in 2017, January, and October this year, as well as recent trends in North Korea’s engine development, the military assesses that the Hwasong-12 has not yet been deployed operationally. It is reported that North Korea has not achieved technical improvements on the Hwasong-12 for five years since its launch in 2017 until January this year. Photos released by North Korea after two launches show flames from one main engine and four auxiliary engines of the Hwasong-12.

However, this missile is estimated to be equipped with only one gimbaled main engine nozzle that can move, replacing the one main engine and four auxiliary engines. This is intended to reduce weight and increase flight range.

Earlier, the North Korea-focused site Beyond Parallel under the U.S. Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) analyzed that large-scale construction was underway at the launch site, suggesting that North Korea would find it difficult to launch "satellites" from this site for the time being.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.