North Korea is rebuilding a rocket test site

New satellite images of North Korea from the Center for Strategic Studies’ Beyond Parallel project and 38 North suggest that the country's government is rebuilding a rocket launch site it had vowed to dismantle.

The images come two days after failed talks on denuclearisation between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un on 28 February in Vietnam.

Nevertheless ,38 North noticed that efforts to rebuild the plant started between 16 February and 2 March which meant it occurred either just before, during or immediately after the summit.

"If North Korea does something they want us to know, they would say it. They haven't said anything," said Joseph Yun, the State Department's former special representative for North Korea policy.

"We don't know enough to say one way or the other. My own guess is it's too early to think that this is a response to what happened in Hanoi," Yun added.

The Tongchang-ri rocket test site has been used for satellite launches and engine testing, never for ballistic missile launches. But satellite launches use similar technology as missiles and could be used to help North Korea develop long-range ballistic missiles.

The facility, which is now active, had been dormant since about August of last year.