Undeclared Sinpungdong base near China houses rapid-launch ICBMs

A secret missile facility near North Korea’s border with China has been identified as a significant element of Pyongyang’s evolving ballistic capabilities. Researchers describe Sinpungdong, a base in North Pyongan Province, as housing a brigade-sized unit with six to nine nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles and their mobile launchers. The site, located about 27 kilometers (17 miles) from the Chinese frontier, is said to be designed for rapid launch and dispersal, with missiles exiting the base, joining special warhead storage and transport teams, and then being launched from dispersed locations in a crisis.

Construction of the base began around 2004, with facilities mostly completed and operational by 2014, and analysts say it has continued to be developed since. The base’s undeclared status is notable, and it forms part of a broader pattern in which North Korea maintains a network of missile sites and storage facilities that are not publicly acknowledged in denuclearization talks or diplomacy. The base’s ability to function with little to no visible defense infrastructure—no obvious launch pads or air defenses has prompted warnings about its potential for...