Image Credentials: Image Title: North Korea’s Secret Missile Base Near China Raises Fears of New Nuclear Threat Source: (Sora.ChatGPT) Date: September 2025. Attribution: Created using AI-generated imagery (Sora.ChatGPT), this does not depict a real-world scene.
By Staff Writer | Open Chronicle with Agencies
North Korea has secretly built a military base near its border with China that could host some of Pyongyang’s most advanced long-range ballistic missiles, according to a new report by a U.S. think tank.
The facility, known as the Sinpung-dong missile operating base, is described as “undeclared” and lies just 27 kilometers from the Chinese frontier, the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) revealed.
According to the report, the installation, located in North Pyongan Province, has the capacity to house six to nine intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) armed with nuclear warheads, as well as their launchers. Such weapons “pose a potential nuclear threat to East Asia and the United States,” the study warns.
Hidden From Negotiations
The CSIS report notes that Sinpung-dong appears to be part of a wider network of 15 to 20 undeclared ballistic missile bases across North Korea, along with maintenance depots, missile support facilities, and warhead storage sites. These facilities were never included in any past denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington.
Analysts stress that in the event of a crisis, missiles and launchers could be dispersed from the base to mobile units across the country, making detection and interception far more difficult.
“This base is a key element of North Korea’s evolving missile strategy, strengthening both its nuclear deterrent and its ability to launch a large-scale strike,” the CSIS report concludes.
Escalation Since Failed U.S.–North Korea Summit
The revelation comes against the backdrop of North Korea’s accelerated nuclear program since the collapse of the 2019 Hanoi summit between Kim Jong-un and then U.S. President Donald Trump. Talks broke down over disagreements about sanctions relief and Pyongyang’s willingness to scale back its arsenal.
Since then, Kim has called for the “rapid expansion” of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities, declaring the country an “irreversible nuclear state.”
The war in Ukraine has further reshaped Pyongyang’s position. North Korea has tightened ties with Moscow, reportedly sending more than 10,000 troops, artillery shells, missiles, and long-range rocket systems to Russia in 2024, largely to support operations in the Kursk region.
In return, U.S. officials say Moscow has been supplying Pyongyang with advanced satellite and space technology — raising concerns that these capabilities could directly bolster North Korea’s missile program. Experts note that satellite launch vehicles and ICBMs share much of the same underlying technology.
A Growing Regional and Global Concern
The discovery of Sinpung-dong adds to fears that North Korea is expanding both the size and survivability of its nuclear arsenal. With missiles capable of reaching the continental United States, the secret base underscores the strategic challenge facing Washington and its allies in East Asia.
For regional powers such as South Korea and Japan, both already within range of shorter-range North Korean missiles, the new revelations highlight the increasing difficulty of countering Pyongyang’s evolving threat.