New Satellite Images Suggest North Korea Resuming Missile Testing Activities

A new satellite image indicates that North Korea may be preparing to resume testing at a site that was dismantled after President Donald Trump and dictator Kim Jong Un reached an agreement at the Singapore summit last summer.

The commercial satellite imagery which was obtained by CNN shows activity being resumed at the previously dismantled Sohae Satellite Launching Station. The image which was captured by Planet Labs Thursday shows the presence of a large shipping container at the facility's engine test stand.

The shipping container, which was not seen before at the site could suggest that North Korea might be preparing to resume testing engines used to power satellite launchers and intercontinental ballistic missiles at the site, Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute, which works in partnership with the imaging company, told CNN.

After the Singapore summit, Trump had claimed that Kim Jong Un agreed to dismantle the site at Sohae.

"That was not in your agreement," Trump said at a press conference after their meeting. "I got that after we signed the agreement. I said, 'Do me a favor. You've got this missile engine testing site. We know where it is because of the heat.' Its incredible the equipment we have, to be honest with you. I said, can you close it up?' He's going to close it up."

North Korea went on and dismantled the site at Sohae. However, it was reassembled in March 2019 and the recent activity at the site signifies a step toward weapons launches of a more threatening nature. According to Lewis, no previous activity was seen at the site until Thursday.

North Korea’s move comes after a foreign ministry official in the Kim Jong Un administration said earlier this week that Pyongyang was preparing a "Christmas gift," for Washington. The threat has escalated tensions between the two nations.

Diplomats from both nations have been trying to negotiate a deal that would see Kim Jong Un give up the country's nuclear weapons in exchange for relief on sanctions that have crippled North Korea’s economy. North Korea, however, has continually blamed the U.S. for lack of progress in the nuclear negotiations.

The urgency to reach a peaceful solution had increased after Pyongyang successfully test-fired missiles that could potentially hit the U.S. mainland with a nuclear warhead for the first time in 2017.

Speaking at the NATO summit in England, Trump dubbed the North Korean leader Rocket Man, adding that they both shared a good relationship.

"He really likes sending rockets up, doesn't he? That's why I call him Rocket Man." Trump said.

However, North Korea had expressed displeasure at the “utterances made by President Trump inappropriately at the most sensitive time,” and called him a "dotard."

The possible resumption of testing at Sohae coupled with the ominous threats made by North Korea could mean that Trump’s talk of friendship with Kim meant nothing and that he might have been playing with fire all along.