Found 13 N. Korea missile sites, group says

U.S. analysts said Monday they have located 13 of an estimated 20 secret North Korean missile development sites.

The new report highlights the challenge that President Donald Trump's administration faces in ensuring that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un complies with any eventual agreement to end the country's nuclear and missile programs.

The estimated 20 bases, which are small and dispersed across the country, are believed to have underground facilities containing mobile launchers that can be quickly dispersed to other locations, according to the report from Beyond Parallel, a group at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Although not designed as launch sites, the bases could be used to launch short-range missiles into South Korea and Japan, as well as intercontinental ballistic missiles that could reach the continental U.S.

"The dispersed nature, small size of operating bases, and tactics and doctrine employed by ballistic missile units provide the best chances for their survival given the KPA's technology and capabilities," according to the report, using an acronym to refer to the Korean People's Army.

The authors say the sites, which can be used for all classes of ballistic missile, therefore should be declared by North Korea and inspected in any credible, verifiable "denuclearization" deal that addresses Pyongyang's most significant threats to the United States and its allies.

The report says the bases have been camouflaged for decades to prevent destruction from pre-emptive strikes and during military operations.

North Korea analysts not involved in the report said the findings were not surprising given Pyongyang's past activities but were still cause for concern. They noted that Kim had not agreed to halt either nuclear weapons or missile development in negotiations with Trump or Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

"The fact that North Korea has continued to build nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles in the midst of high-level diplomacy with China, South Korea, and the U.S. should not come as a surprise," said Abraham Denmark, the Asia program director at The Wilson Center. "Despite all the summitry, North Korea is just as dangerous today as it was a year ago."

"Improving relations with Pyongyang may be a laudable goal, but any claim that the North Korean nuclear and missile threats have been solved is either wishful thinking or purposefully deceptive," he said.

"Interesting but unsurprising report," said Kelsey Davenport, director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association. "Kim Jong Un only committed voluntarily to halt long-range missile tests."

The report comes as talks between the U.S. and North Korea hit another snag last week, with a New York meeting between Pompeo and the top negotiator from Pyongyang canceled at the last minute. Trump -- who's cited North Korea's year-long freeze on nuclear weapons tests and ballistic missile launches as signs of progress -- chalked up the change to a scheduling conflict, adding, "We think it's going fine, we're in no rush."

Yet pressure is building to ease international sanctions put in place last year. On Thursday, Russia called a meeting of the United Nations Security Council to take up its request for humanitarian exemptions to international sanctions on Pyongyang. The U.S. said it would vet Russia's list, but administration officials have previously said Moscow is already violating the restrictions.

The administration has said repeatedly that sanctions will not be lifted until a denuclearization agreement is fully implemented.

Information for this article was contributed by Benjamin Din of Bloomberg News; and by Matthew Lee of The Associated Press.

A Section on 11/13/2018

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