Satellite Photos Show North Korea Preparing Another Missile Launch

North Korea carried out its first missile test in more than two months earlier this week, ending the longest stretch of calm since President Trump took office. But according to satellite images exclusively obtained by Fox News, the North Korean military is already constructing another launch pad at the Panghyon Airbase in North Pyongyang - the same site where it carried out its July 4 launch of an ICBM.

This suggests that the North is already preparing for its next missile test.

Analysts at Image Sat International spotted the construction just days after the rogue nation launched an ICBM that North Korea claimed was powerful enough to carry a “super-heavy nuclear warhead” that could strike the “mainland of the U.S."

According to the ImageSat analysts, who are closely following North Korean military activity, this is “the first time that they have decided to rebuild a site that they have used before."

The photos, dated Nov. 23 and 24, appear to show the development of another launch pad just a few yards away from the one used during the July 4 Hwasong-14 ICBM launch, as well as a newly renovated access road.

Constructed in the 1980s, the Panghyon site is North Korea"s primary aircraft production, repair, and research facility.

The satellite images also show the construction of an aircraft hangar, as well as airplanes being moved and stored in hangers on the tarmac.

With the recent launch of another ICBM and the construction of additional launching pads, North Korea continues to defy the US-led world outrage over its nuclear program and is determined to bring it to completion.

The Hwasong-15 rocket tested by the North Tuesday was themost powerful of the three ICBMs tested by the Kim regime so far. Furthermore, the mobile night launch appeared aimed at testing new capabilities and demonstrating that Pyongyang would be able to strike back to any attempt at a preventative strike against the regime. The missile"s peak height and record flight time also helped confirm the Pentagon"s worst fears: The North now possesses the capability to strike nearly any target on the continental US.

North Korea Warns "More Drills" Coming, Says Launch Was "Prelude To Containing Guam"

Just when it seemed that a full day may pass without some diplomatic fiasco between North Korea and the US sending stocks surging on rising risks of World War III, moments ago North Korea"s state-run news agency KCNA issued a statement quoting Kim Jong Un, who said that "the current ballistic rocket launching drill like a real war is the first step of the military operation of the KPA in the Pacific and a meaningful prelude to containing Guam" and added the necessity to "positively push forward the work for putting the strategic force on a modern basis by conducting more ballistic rocket launching drills with the Pacific as a target in the future."

KCNA also reported that Kim was present during yesterday"s launch and that "involved in the drill were Hwasong artillery units of the KPA Strategic Force tasked with striking the bases of the U.S. imperialist aggressor forces located in the Pacific operational theater in contingency and intermediate-range strategic ballistic rocket Hwasong-12."

Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers" Party of Korea, chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK and supreme commander of the Korean People"s Army, guided an intermediate-range strategic ballistic rocket launching drill of the KPA Strategic Force on the spot.

KCNA also reported that the intermediate-range strategic ballistic rocket launch drill "was conducted as a part of the muscle-flexing to counter the Ulji Freedom Guardian joint military drills the U.S. and the south Korean puppet forces finally kicked off in disregard of the DPRK"s meaningful and crucial warning."

The news agency also adds that the launched ballistic missile, "crossed the sky above Oshima peninsula of Hokkaido and Cape Erimo of Japan along the preset flight track and accurately hit the preset target waters in northern Pacific" even though "the drill had no impact on the security of the neighboring countries."

The statement also warned that the DPRK has learned to "show action, not talk, to the U.S. imprudently denying the DPRK"s initiative measure for easing the extreme tension", Kim Jong Un stressed that the DPRK "will continue to watch the U.S. demeanors as already declared and decide its future action according to them."

It is unclear how high futures will surge on the news that last night"s missile launch is just the first of many more.

Full KCNA statement below:

 

Kim Jong Un Guides Strategic Ballistic Rocket Launching Drill of KPA Strategic Force

Pyongyang, August 30 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers" Party of Korea, chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK and supreme commander of the Korean People"s Army, guided an intermediate-range strategic ballistic rocket launching drill of the KPA Strategic Force on the spot.

The drill was observed by senior officials of the Central Committee of the WPK including Ri Pyong Chol, Kim Jong Sik, Jo Yong Won and Yu Jin, and officials in the field of defence scientific research including Jang Chang Ha and Jon Il Ho.

Respected Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un was greeted by commanding officers of the KPA Strategic Force including its General Kim Rak Gyom, commander of the KPA Strategic Force.

Involved in the drill were Hwasong artillery units of the KPA Strategic Force tasked with striking the bases of the U.S. imperialist aggressor forces located in the Pacific operational theater in contingency and intermediate-range strategic ballistic rocket Hwasong-12.

As known to the world, the intermediate-range strategic ballistic rocket launching drill of the KPA Strategic Force was conducted as a part of the muscle-flexing to counter the Ulji Freedom Guardian joint military drills the U.S. and the south Korean puppet forces finally kicked off in disregard of the DPRK"s meaningful and crucial warning.

The drill was carried out through the combination of sudden maneuvers and strike in order to estimate and examine the posture of the KPA Strategic Force for prompt counteraction in contingency on the Korean peninsula and to confirm the actual war operation capacity of the intermediate-range strategic ballistic rocket newly equipped with by it.

The Hwasong artillery personnel, who were to conduct the launching drill for the first time in the capital city of the DPRK by order of Kim Jong Un, were all filled with strong militant enthusiasm.

Kim Jong Un arrived at the launching ground early at dawn and watched the artillerymen promptly moving and deploying the Hwasong-12 rocket launcher, praising them for their smart and accurate movement.

He learned in detail about the launch plan, preset flight track and target waters and issued an order to launch the rocket.

The fired ballistic rocket reflecting the dignity and might of the Juche-based nuclear power crossed the sky above Oshima peninsula of Hokkaido and Cape Erimo of Japan along the preset flight track and accurately hit the preset target waters in northern Pacific.

The drill had no impact on the security of the neighboring countries.

In the drill the rocket operational capacity of the Hwasong artillery units of the KPA Strategic Force for an actual war and the combat efficiency of the newly equipped intermediate-range strategic ballistic rocket were all proved perfect.

Kim Jong Un expressed great satisfaction over the successful launching.

Praising the Hwasong artillerymen of the Strategic Force for being well versed in the newly equipped ultra-modern rocket system and properly operating it, he said the drill would offer them an opportunity for gaining a good experience in their rocket operation for an actual war.

Noting that the current ballistic rocket launching drill like a real war is the first step of the military operation of the KPA in the Pacific and a meaningful prelude to containing Guam, advanced base of invasion, he said that it is necessary to positively push forward the work for putting the strategic force on a modern basis by conducting more ballistic rocket launching drills with the Pacific as a target in the future.

Sternly saying that the U.S. answered the DPRK"s warning which it will closely watch the U.S. behavior with the bellicose war exercises for aggression, he added that the drill conducted by the Strategic Force is a curtain-raiser of its resolute countermeasures against the Ulji Freedom Guardian joint military exercises being conducted by the U.S. and its stooges.

Noting that it is a lesson drew by the DPRK this time again that it should show action, not talk, to the U.S. imprudently denying the DPRK"s initiative measure for easing the extreme tension, he stressed that the DPRK will continue to watch the U.S. demeanors as already declared and decide its future action according to them.

He expressed great belief and conviction that the officers and men of the Strategic Force will further strengthen the combat preparations of Hwasong artillery pieces as required by the grim situation, be fully ready to go into action for decisive battle so as to launch powerful ballistic rockets anytime and thus check military racket of the U.S. imperialists and their followers and firmly guarantee the security of the country and the happiness of the people.

Officers and men of the KPA Strategic Force extended the warmest thanks to Kim Jong Un, peerless patriot and hero of the nation, who gave vent to the long-pent grudge of the Korean people by mapping out a bold plan to make the cruel Japanese islanders insensible on bloody Aug. 29 when the disgraceful "Korea-Japan Annexation Treaty" was proclaimed 107 years ago and approving ballistic rocket launching in the capital region, and pledged that once the Party Central Committee issues an order, they will fulfill their sacred mission and duty as the reliable nuclear force of the WPK in the van of the final sacred war which will win victory in the standoff with imperialism and the U.S.

North Korea: Latest Missile Can Deliver "Large Scale Heavy Nuclear Warhead"

Two days after the latest provocative missile test by North Korea, in which it launched a "new type" of ballistic missile, one which experts warned had a substantially longer range than any existing rocket North Korea had fired, on Monday morning North Korea announced that it had successfully conducted a mid-to-long range missile test on Sunday supervised by leader Kim Jong Un which was aimed at verifying the capability to carry a "large scale heavy nuclear warhead."

The country"s KCNA news agency further said that the Hwasong-12 missile was launched at the highest angle so as not to affect the security of neighboring countries and flew 787 kilometers reaching an altitude of 2,111.5 kilometers.

In an earlier article, we explained how and why the ballistic missile used may have been the most advanced one tested by North Korea yet.

For those who may have missed it, here it is again: "North Korea"s Latest Ballistic Missile Was A "New Type" With Dramatically Longer Range"

After North Korea provoked both its neighbors and the US when on Sunday morning it fired off yet another ballistic missile from Kusong near the border with China  - one which this time did not explode upon launch  - just days after the election of a new South Korean president who ironically advocates more engagement with Pyongyang, experts said the missile appeared to be a new type of ballistic missile, and had a far greater range than any other weapon North Korea has successfully launched.

According to Japanese Defense Minister Tomomi Inada, the missile rose to a height of about 2,000 kilometers, a much steeper trajectory than usual for a North Korean missile test. She also confirmed that officials were looking into the possibility that it was a "new type of ballistic missile." Japan"s cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, said the missile traveled for about 30 minutes and landed 700 kilometers east of the launch site. A spokesman for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff estimated the distance at 435 miles.

Cited by the WSJ, independent experts said the missile, if fired at a conventional angle, could have flown 2,800 miles—far enough to reach the U.S. military base in Guam.

That is a “considerably longer range than its current missiles,” said David Wright, co-director of the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, in an analysis of the launch.

As the Journal adds, while North Korea’s Taepodong-2 rocket has flown farther than Sunday’s missile, North Korea classifies it as a satellite launcher that isn’t designed to deliver a warhead back to earth. It is, however, banned by United Nations sanctions because similar technology could be used to make an intercontinental ballistic missile.

North Korea’s previous most recent launch from Kusong took place in February, during a summit meeting between Mr. Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The February launch also featured a new type of missile for North Korea, one that uses a solid fuel-powered engine. The test involved an intermediate-range ballistic missile that was modified from a missile that North Korea launched from a submarine last year. It was later paraded through the streets of Pyongyang in April for a national holiday.

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