, 11 tweets, 5 min read Read on Twitter
Kim Jong Un has visited another important defense factory and the site of its November 2017 ICBM launch. KCNA and Rodong Sinmun identified the place as the Phyongnam General Machine Plant, although it appears to be the March 16 Factory in Pyongsong: 39.2818, 125.8676.
KCNA did not release exterior images, but the inside of the building is a good match for the March 16 Factory. One image is from June 2, 2019; the other is from November 4, 2017. You can tell which is which.
A 3 meter satellite image from @planetlabs on June 1 does show an unusual object near the building where missiles launchers are completed. That object coincides with the possible visit by Kim although at 3 meters it could be anything. I say coincide/feel free to say coincidence.
A visit like this gets my attention. Kim's November 4, 2017 visit was important in hindsight because, while KCNA showed him looking at trucks, there was probably more to the visit. Kim returned on November 29 to watch the launch of a Hwasong-15 ICBM.
Fun fact! Nearby, North Korea built a monument at the ICBM launch site. Sometimes people complain that one can't see a country's intentions from satellite images. This is one of my favorite cases where those intentions were on display.
armscontrolwonk.com/archive/120485…
We monitor the monument for activity. There was a large visit to the monument on September 1, 2018 that was not reported by KCNA. (Not sure if Kim was there or not.) But we saw a large group of people walking up to in a pair of satellite images.
armscontrolwonk.com/archive/120680…
That pair of images was revealing because they independently confirmed reporting from inside North Korea that, while KCNA was no longer highlighting North Korea's nuclear program, internal propaganda still emphasized the importance of nuclear weapons.
dailynk.com/english/north-…
I don't know why the North Korea's switched the naming convention, but the name is a reference to South Pyongan Province, where the factory is located. North Korean tends to transliterate 평남 as "Phyongnam." The politics of transliteration!
This is now Kim's fifth visit in a few days to a factory involved in defense production. More important, two of the factories -- the February 8 and March 16 plants -- are locations where North Korea tested ICBMs in 2017. I think we should take the f'ing hint.
ACK. I mislabeled the monument. One second.
How many times can I screw this up? CORRECTED, with help from @DaveSchmerler
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