Analysts: Normal operations restored at NKorean launch site
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE - In this April 8, 2012, file photo, a soldier stands in front of the Unha-3 rocket at a launching site in Tongchang-ri, North Korea. North Korea is reportedly restoring facilities at its long-range rocket launch site that it had dismantled as part of disarmament steps last year. A major South Korean newspaper reports that the country's spy service gave such an assessment to lawmakers in a private briefing on Tuesday. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder, File)
U.S. analysts say North Korea appears to have restored normal operations at a long-range rocket launch site it partially dismantled last year as part of disarmament steps.
Analysts say North Korea is trying to convey displeasure over the breakdown of a summit between leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump over what the Americans said were Kim's excessive demands for sanctions relief.
North Korea-focused website 38 North says commercial satellite images from March 6 indicate that the launch site appears to have returned to "normal operational status" after rapid construction there.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies has published similar findings and says the North's actions amount to a "snapback" from the moderate dismantlement it undertook following the first Trump-Kim summit last June.