Recent commercial satellite imagery indicates that tunnel excavation has been stepped up at the west portal of North Korea’s Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site.
38 North, a Johns Hopkins University website dedicated to analysis of North Korea, said in a Thursday post that mining carts and personnel were “consistently present” around the west portal of the facility and a significant expansion of excavated earth was observed throughout December.
Analysts Frank V. Pabian, Joseph S. Bermudez Jr. and Jack Liu also noted that a group of 100 to 200 personnel were also discerned conducting unknown activities in “seven different formations” in the southern support area of the test site on December 28.
“These activities underscore North Korea’s continued efforts to maintain the Punggye-ri site’s potential for future nuclear testing,” the analysts wrote.
nothing worse than the stench of propaganda