Seoul Says Closely Monitoring With US N.Korea's Activity At Sohae Launch Station

Seoul Says Closely Monitoring With US N.Korea's Activity at Sohae Launch Station

South Korea and the United States are closely monitoring Pyongyang's movements at the Sohae satellite launch site and other key regions, in light of the North's recent tests, the South Korean Defense Ministry said Monday

SEOUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th December, 2019) South Korea and the United States are closely monitoring Pyongyang's movements at the Sohae satellite launch site and other key regions, in light of the North's recent tests, the South Korean Defense Ministry said Monday.

The North Korean academy of the National Defense Science said over the weekend that it conducted a "very important" test at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground on Saturday.

"We are aware of North Korea's testing. The United States and South Korea are closely monitoring and paying close attention to North Korea's activities in key areas starting with Tongchang-ri," the Defense Ministry's spokeswoman, Choi Hyun-soo, said at a briefing.

Choi added that the two countries were also monitoring Pyongyang's activities with regard to the restoration of missile testing grounds.

Earlier this month, the Japanese Asahi Shimbun newspaper, citing US and South Korean sources, reported that North Korea had built dozens of concrete platforms for mobile missile launchers.

It was also reported that the recent test conducted at Sohae may be related to tests of a solid-fuel engine for intercontinental ballistic missiles.

After the failure of the US-North Korea summit in Vietnam in February, Pyongyang officially committed itself to end nuclear tests and launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles. This pledge did not, however, extend to engine tests, or launches of satellites or medium- and short-range ballistic missiles.

In recent months, North Korea has been consistently reminding the US that the deadline for Washington's concessions is fast approaching. From the North's point of view, the US has not been responded in good faith to Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un's attempts to settle the issue. Pyongyang has therefore threatened to change its course regarding the denuclearization process unless the US administration offers more palatable terms for negotiations on the matter.