Satellite image analysis of North Korea's new missile launch site taken in January shows that the 30-meter (100-foot) tall launch tower is nearing its completion, said The Guardian.
According to the report, this is a progress towards Pyongyang's development of inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBM).
Tim Brown, image analyst who identified the site thinks that the tower is basically operational.
He said, "I do not see the North Korean missile programme as a real military threat. It is just enough of a programme to get political attention and be used as a bargaining chip. It is one way they can go to the six-party talks and have something real to negotiate with."
But the US believes Pyongyang is becoming a real threat. Defense secretary Robert Gates last month said that the country can develop ICBM in five years.
However, experts remain doubtful of the communist country's missile capability. While they have attempted to create long-range missiles for many years, its tests were infrequent and barely successful.
"Much more important [than this site] is the missile itself. And in this regard, North Korea does not have the technology to strike the United States, nor will it have it anytime soon, despite what Robert Gates suggested last month. The ICBM tests it conducted in 2006 and 2009 were quite revealing in this regard," said David Santoro of the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Author's note: The author finds it funny to be paranoid and scared of North Korea with limited resources. It can't even feed its people. The real threat comes from countries that already have ICBM.
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