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North Korea Is Working on New Missiles, Report Says

Satellite photos, evidence indicates that efforts were underway to assemble liquid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missiles.

North Korea Is Working on New Missiles, Report Says
A pedestrian watches a television screen broadcasting an image of North Korea Leader Kim Jong Un during a news program reporting on North Korea’s missile launch in Tokyo, Japan.(Photographer: Keith Bedford/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- North Korea has continued to build missiles in the weeks since leader Kim Jong Un agreed to “work toward complete denuclearization” with U.S. President Donald Trump, the Washington Post reported.

Satellite photos and other evidence indicates that efforts were underway to assemble at least one, and possibly two, liquid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missiles, the Post reported, citing unidentified officials familiar with U.S. intelligence who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The rockets were being built at a facility in Sanumdong, on the outskirts of Pyongyang, the paper said.

The new intelligence doesn’t suggest an expansion of North Korea’s capabilities, but shows that work on advanced weapons is continuing, according to the Post.

The report is the latest indication that Kim continues to build nuclear weapons, despite Trump declaring North Korea was “no longer a Nuclear Threat” after the leaders’ June 12 summit in Singapore. While Kim has unilaterally agreed to stop testing nuclear bombs and ICBMs -- and demolished some related facilities -- he has made no commitments to stop expanding the arsenal the regime spent decades building.

Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, who’s leading nuclear negotiations with North Korea, acknowledged in U.S. Senate testimony last week that North Korean factories “continue to produce fissile material” used in making nuclear weapons. At the time, he declined to say whether Pyongyang was building new missiles.

To contact the reporter on this story: Colin Keatinge in Tokyo at ckeatinge@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Enda Curran

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.