According to the reports made my 38 North, North Korea has started disassembling key launching facilities at the Sohae Satellite Launching Station. It was reportedly done in response to the Singapore Summit between North Korean Dictator Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump that happened in June 12th.
The facilities are believed to have been disassembled at launchpad. According to the satellite imagery from July 20th, the rail-mounted processing/transfer structure has been moved to the middle of the pad, exposing the underground rail transfer point—one of the few times it has been seen in this location.
An image from two days later shows the continued presence of the crane and vehicles. Considerable progress has been made in dismantling the rail-mounted processing/transfer structure. One corner has been completely dismantled and the parts can be seen lying on the ground. In both images the two fuel/oxidizer bunkers, main processing building and gantry tower remain untouched.
The North Koreans have also reportedly started to disassemble a vertical engine test stand. 38 North adds:
The rail-mounted environmental shelter—which hadn’t been moved since December 2017—has been razed and removed, the older fuel/oxidizer bunkers are in the process of being razed, and portions of the test stand’s upper steel framework have been dismantled and its paneling removed.
President Trump also made a tweet about this situation saying, “A Rocket has not been launched by North Korea in 9 months,” Trump tweeted. “Likewise, no Nuclear Tests. Japan is happy, all of Asia is happy. But the Fake News is saying, without ever asking me (always anonymous sources), that I am angry because it is not going fast enough. Wrong, very happy!”
A Rocket has not been launched by North Korea in 9 months. Likewise, no Nuclear Tests. Japan is happy, all of Asia is happy. But the Fake News is saying, without ever asking me (always anonymous sources), that I am angry because it is not going fast enough. Wrong, very happy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2018
