Pyongyang's Not So Hidden Second Missile Site
It sounds like a repeat of the Pakistani Pipeline drama. Intelligence officials know all about a second North Korean missile site at Tongch'ang-dong near Pongdong-ni, but don't tell the IAEA or even the White House.
Construction has continued even as the U.S. government renewed its attempt to persuade North Korea to shut down its nuclear weapons program. Those negotiations do not address North Korea's long-range missile program, but would give North Korea much-desired economic and political incentives in exchange for giving up nuclear weapons.
The deal's future may be in doubt with news this week that Kim Jong Il, who has held absolute rule in the impoverished, isolated Stalinist regime, may have been incapacitated by a stroke or other health crisis. North Korean authorities deny he is ailing.
The new launch facility exceeds in both size and sophistication the Musudan-ni base on North Korea's east coast, images from DigitalGlobe and GeoEye suggest.
American conservatives surely will rage, but it's yet another symptom of American diplomatic impotence and contempt for a multilateral approach to banning nuclear weapons.
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