A facility for the manufacturing and research of various kinds of projectiles, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), is currently being constructed in Pyongyang’s Sinri District. Around 90% of the facility has been constructed and the site is expected to start missile production sometime during late 2020 or early 2021.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a US-based think tank, posted satellite imagery of the facility – called the Sil-li Ballistic Missile Support Facility – on its North Korea-focused website, Beyond Parallel, on May 5. The CSIS report explains the various characteristics of the new facility and states that it is designed to support the development of ballistic missiles.
A high-level government source in North Korea told Daily NK on May 8 that the missile-related buildings consist of an underground bunker, two basement floors and two ground floors. Each of the underground and ground structures have general situation rooms, launch control systems, and peacetime management systems.
The reason the site is being built in Pyongyang is to give North Korean leader Kim Jong Un an easy way to review the overall development of new tactical and strategic weapons, according to the source.
“Until now, Kim has always had to travel to either the east or west coasts of the country to check on the development of his missile programs. Now, he will soon be able to conduct all of these inspections without having to travel too far. He can have an overview of everything from Pyongyang,” the source explained.
“The site is essentially a central base for him to create overall strategies for missile-related operations,” he added.
This means that North Korean authorities see this new facility as the country’s new missile command center. The new facility will manufacture, manage, and store weapons, and will also allow the leadership to discuss strategies and tactics and give orders to missile units.
The facility is expected to be able to manufacture and store multiple rocket launchers as well as other types of rockets, but its main purpose is to manufacture ICBMs, according to the source.
Reflecting this, the structure was built to include mobile launching platforms, mobile storage facilities, rocket storage facilities (a total of seven), and hangars (a total of three).
According to the CSIS report, the facility covers approximately 442,300 square meters and “can accommodate all known North Korean ballistic missiles and their associated launchers and support vehicles.”
The new facility’s location is reportedly in one of the best places to both transport and assemble missiles. Sinri District is located near a rocket manufacturing plant in Sanum-dong in Pyongyang’s Ryongsong District and an engine manufacturing plant near Sanum Station.
“Sinri District is an excellent place for producing weapons because it is located in the mountains,” the source said. “It is also connected to Pyongyang’s Sunan Road so mobile launchers and wheeled transportation can be moved around easily in any direction and at any time during the night.”
A new mountain road for use by the military was reportedly constructed while the facility was being built to link it up with Sunan Road. The new road was built to prevent satellites from viewing the movement of mobile launchers and launch sites.
North Korea’s Munitions Industry Department broke ground on the facility in Sept. 2013 and construction has continued on the site since Mar. 2014. The 24th Brigade of the 7th General Bureau, the 5th Regiment of the 1st Brigade, and the 2nd Brigade of the 8th General Bureau were mobilized to build the facility. Residential areas near the entrance to the facility are reportedly being built by the 621st Storm Troopers Unit, which is affiliated with the Academy of National Defense Sciences.
The underground rail terminal linking the facility with the three rocket parts production plants in Saneum has already been completed. Work has reportedly begun to connect the Academy of National Defense Sciences’ testing facility to the lowest level of the underground tunnel.
It is unlikely the Sinri District facility will be used to launch any missiles. Actual launches would take place in much more covert facilities and North Korean authorities would not allow launches of nuclear-tipped warheads to take place so close to the capital.
North Korea’s Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) has reportedly ordered the construction of the site to be completed by Oct. 10, the anniversary of the founding of the country’s communist party. This is because the facility serves both as a symbol of North Korea’s “frontal breakthrough” in terms of the country’s military but also because the existence of the facility can “put pressure” on the US given that it will become the country’s largest ICBM manufacturing site.
“I understand that Kim Jong Un will make a visit to the site this year even if missile production has not yet begun,” the source told Daily NK.
“The site is a big deal both domestically and internationally because it was made in ‘our style’ [North Korean-style) and all its manufacturing processes are automated and state-of-the-art,” he added.
*Translated by Gabriela Bernal
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