North Korea’s expansion of long-range missile plant revealed amid ‘Christmas gift’ threats to Trump

Experts fear Kim Jong-un's government never halted work on producing powerful new weapons

A satellite image of a North Korean military factory has shown the construction of a new building amid fears Kim Jong-un’s government is preparing to test long-range missiles.

Several images showing a factory where North Korea makes military equipment used to launch long-range missiles have been released by Planet Labs, a US Earth imaging company.

Mr Kim’s government has previously said it has a “Christmas gift” for the US as it seeks concessions from stalled nuclear negotiations with the Trump administration.

One of the satellite images, taken on 19 December, shows the completion of a new structure at a factory near Pyongyang, where the county is thought to be developing and manufacturing vehicles used as mobile launchers for long-range ballistic missiles.

The development comes as US and East Asian officials warn North Korea may have continued to work on producing powerful new weapons over the past two years, despite a moratorium on testing its most advanced missiles.

Recent activity at a rocket launch site has appeared to confirm suspicions from US intelligence agencies that Mr Kim’s government has been working on expanding its weapons capabilities.

“No one thinks they developed all these systems in a few months,” Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia nonproliferation programme at the Middlebury Institute, told The Washington Post.

Mr Lewis said satellite photos and multiple tests show North Korea’s nuclear and missile facilities kept operating through the supposed ban on testing.

He added the new construction appeared to be an expansion of the factory, which would be “big news”.

Although Donald Trump claimed last year there was “no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea” after a summit with Mr Kim, nuclear talks broke down in 2019.

Earlier this month, North Korea carried out two major tests at its long-range rocket launch and missile engine testing site in the country's northwest.

Experts believe the country tested a new engine for either an inter-continental ballistic missile or a satellite launch vehicle.

In a interview with Axios last week, Mr Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton suggested the president was bluffing about stopping North Korea from producing nuclear weapons.

He accused Mr Trump of pursuing a “rhetorical policy” and said if the president was serious about tackling Mr Kim’s government he “would be pursuing a different course”.

“The idea that we are somehow exerting maximum pressure on North Korea is unfortunately just not true,” Mr Bolton said.

“We're now nearly three years into the administration with no visible progress towards getting North Korea to make the strategic decision to stop pursuing deliverable nuclear weapons.”

Additional reporting by AP