North Korea has been quietly running a sprawling long-range missile base just 27 kilometers (17 miles) from the Chinese border, according to a new report that highlights Pyongyang’s growing nuclear capabilities and the geopolitical risks for both Washington and Beijing.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said Wednesday that the Sinpung-dong Missile Operating Base in North Pyongan Province likely houses a brigade-sized unit with six to nine nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and their mobile launchers. The missiles, the think tank warned, pose a potential nuclear threat not only to East Asia but also to the continental United States.
Satellite imagery analyzed by CSIS shows the base, which began construction around 2004 and became operational a decade later, has been continuously upgraded in recent years. The facility is believed to play a central role in North Korea’s strategy of rapid-launch capabilities, allowing missiles and mobile launchers to disperse to pre-surveyed sites during crises or conflict.
“Sinpung-dong is one of the 15 to 20 undeclared ballistic missile bases North Korea operates,” CSIS said, adding that its location near China offers Pyongyang an added layer of protection from potential U.S. or South Korean strikes.
The revelation underscores how North Korea’s nuclear arsenal is more expansive, dispersed, and survivable than many outside assessments have previously suggested. It also complicates Washington’s options for a preemptive strike, while raising concerns in Beijing about destabilizing military activity so close to its border.
The discovery comes just days after Kim Jong Un called for the “rapid expansion” of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal, a move that coincides with ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills that Pyongyang regularly denounces as rehearsals for war.
Kim, who has deepened ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin by openly supporting Moscow’s war in Ukraine, has rejected renewed dialogue with Washington. Despite three high-profile meetings with then-President Donald Trump during his first term, Pyongyang has pressed ahead with its nuclear weapons program.
Earlier this week, Kim declared that the only way to safeguard North Korea’s security is to ensure its enemies are “afraid,” vowing that his regime’s nuclear capabilities would be demonstrated through “practical actions.”
South Korea’s Defense Ministry did not immediately comment on the CSIS report.
