SEOUL, Aug 21, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - North Korea has built a secret military 
base near its border with China which may house Pyongyang's newest long-range 
ballistic missiles, according to new research.

The "undeclared" Sinpung-dong Missile Operating Base lies about 27 kilometres 
(17 miles) from the Chinese frontier, the Washington-based Center for 
Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said in a report published 
Wednesday.

The facility in North Pyongan Province likely houses six to nine nuclear-
capable intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and their launchers, the 
study said.

It said the weapons "pose a potential nuclear threat to East Asia and the 
continental United States".

North Korea has ramped up its nuclear weapons programme since a failed summit 
with the United States in 2019, and leader Kim Jong Un recently called for 
the "rapid expansion" of the diplomatically isolated nation's nuclear 
capability.

The report -- which CSIS called the first in-depth, open-source confirmation 
of Sinpung-dong -- said the base is one of about "15-20 ballistic missile 
bases, maintenance, support, missile storage, and warhead storage facilities 
which North Korea has never declared".

The facility is "not known to have been the subject of any denuclearisation 
negotiations previously conducted between the United States and North Korea", 
the study said.

Citing their analysts' current assessments, CSIS said the launchers and 
missiles could leave the base in times of crisis or war, link up with special 
units and conduct harder-to-detect launches from other parts of the country.

The base, along with others, "represent the primary components of what is 
presumed to be North Korea's evolving ballistic missile strategy, and its 
expanding strategic-level nuclear deterrence and strike capabilities", the 
report said.

Kim's 2019 summit with US President Donald Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam, collapsed 
because the two sides disagreed on what Pyongyang would concede in return for 
sanctions relief.

Since then, North Korea has repeatedly said it will never give up its weapons 
and declared itself an "irreversible" nuclear state.

And in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Pyongyang has drawn closer 
to Moscow.

South Korean and Western intelligence agencies have said the North sent over 
10,000 soldiers to Russia in 2024 -- primarily to the Kursk region -- along 
with artillery shells, missiles and long-range rocket systems.

Trump has held high-profile talks with Russian and Ukrainian leaders in 
recent days in a bid to end the conflict.

Washington has said there is evidence that Russia is stepping up support for 
North Korea, including providing help on advanced space and satellite 
technology, in return for its assistance in fighting Ukraine.

Analysts say satellite launchers and ICBMs share much of the same underlying 
technology.