October 20, 2022, by Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., Victor Cha and Jennifer Jun—
North Korea's seventh nuclear test is assessed to be carried out in the coming weeks. This report provides an updated view of the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Facility, where the test will almost assuredly take place... There is no new activity at Tunnel No. 3. This is expected because both the…
October 3, 2022, by Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., Victor Cha and Jennifer Jun—
Recent satellite images of the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Facility show new clearing and construction near Tunnel No. 4. As expected, no new activity was observed at Tunnel No. 3, where North Korea is assessed to have finished all preparations for a test.
August 29, 2022, by Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., Victor Cha and Jennifer Jun—
Recent satellite images show efforts to mitigate flood damage at the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Facility, where North Korea has finished all preparations for conducting a seventh nuclear test. .. No significant activity is observed at Tunnel No. 3 of the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Facility.…
June 15, 2022, by Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., Victor Cha and Jennifer Jun—
New satellite imagery of the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Facility shows not only ongoing work at Tunnel No. 3, but also new indicators of construction activity at Tunnel No. 4 further north. .. This post was updated on June 27, 2021, to take into account additional imagery analysis…
May 17, 2022, by Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., Victor Cha and Jennifer Jun—
A high off-nadir satellite imagery collected on May 17, 2022, provides a unique view of the ongoing activity outside the new portal to Tunnel No. 3 (South Portal) and in the main administration and support area of the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site... A high off-nadir satellite imagery collected on May 17, 2022, provides a unique and current…
April 28, 2022, by Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., Victor Cha and Jennifer Jun—
Recent satellite image shows indications of ongoing construction work near and inside Tunnel No. 3 at the Punggye-ri Nuclear Testing Site... Satellite image collected on April 25, 2022, provides one of the most detailed and current views of continued activity at the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Facility....
September 23, 2020, by Victor Cha—
Over the course of 30 elections since 1956, Beyond Parallel measured the period of time before or after an election in which a North Korean provocation happens and found the provocation window has grown more narrow over time. That is, North Korean missile/nuclear tests and other major kinetic provocations have clustered increasingly closer to U.S. elections.
October 17, 2019, by Joseph S. Bermudez Jr. and Victor Cha—
Analysis of satellite imagery of the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Facility acquired during 2019 and more specifically on September 23rd and October 9th, 2019 shows the facility in caretaker status, likely being maintained by security personnel. While there is no evidence of current efforts to restore any of the nuclear test portals, several observations lead us to believe the facility has not been permanently disabled and that the detonations in May 2018 are not necessarily irreversible.
July 16, 2018, by Joseph S. Bermudez Jr. and Beyond Parallel—
North Korea’s pursuit of a nuclear weapons program is nearly six decades old. While archival documents have previously provided some evidence of North Korea’s intent to build weapons of mass destruction at an early stage in the Cold War, newly declassified satellite imagery from the Central Intelligence Agency gives us a more precise picture of how and exactly when North Korea started developing the fundamental components of its nuclear weapons program.
June 11, 2018, by Victor Cha—
There has been much criticism of President Trump's impulsive actions and the unconventionality of the Singapore Summit. However, absent a complete breakdown of the encounter between the leaders, the summit is likely to produce a negotiation process between the United States and North Korea that will implement the mandates laid out by the leaders on denuclearization, security assurances, and a peace process on the Korean peninsula.
