A mere 2 days after the Hanoi summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, satellite images indicated that North Korea has been rebuilding the long-range rocket site at Sohae Satellite Launching Station, an operational launch facility it previously pledged to dismantle, NBC News reports.
Details: Beyond Parallel, a project by the defense think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the images captured on March 2 are "evident at the vertical engine test stand and the launch pad's rail-mounted rocket transfer structure," per NBC News. Victor Cha, one of the authors of Beyond Parallel’s report, said the "imagery thus far does not show a missile being moved to the launch pad." NBC News reported that White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders responded, saying: "We don't comment on intelligence."
The backdrop: South Korean intelligence officials recently said they’ve seen signs of new activity at North Korean nuclear sites, despite promises to destroy the facilites after the first summit with Trump last year.
- Last week, denuclearization talks between Trump and Kim broke down during the second summit in Hanoi, as North Korea showed an unwillingness to limit its nuclear arsenal and disagreements over U.S.-imposed sanctions on the country.
Go deeper: Why Hanoi failed
