Donald Trump took to his Twitter as news broke that North Korea began dismantling a rocket launch site. The Chicago Tribune noted that the site is said to be for launching satellites but is suspected of being part of North Korea's ballistic missile project. Donald Trump lashed out at "Fake News" who reported his impatience over how slow N.Korea is at undertaking the dismantling.
The US president once again justified himself on social media and took the opportunity to slam media who use "anonymous sources" to produce "Fake News." He noted that North Korea has not launched a rocket in nine months.
Donald Trump tweets that he is 'happy' with North Korea
US President Trump said in his tweet that there have been "no nuclear tests" in nine months either. His Twitter showed that as far as Trump is concerned, "Japan is happy all of Asia is happy." Nevertheless, he was certainly not happy with the media. He accused them of spreading false lies about his state of mind over the progress in North Korea. He noted that some (unnamed media) had said he was "angry because it is not going fast enough." He then ended by noting that the press reports were "wrong" and that he is "very happy."
A Rocket has not been launched by North Korea in 9 months. Likewise, no Nuclear Tests. Japan is happy, all of Asia is happy. But the Fake News is saying, without ever asking me (always anonymous sources), that I am angry because it is not going fast enough. Wrong, very happy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2018
N Korea rocket site dismantling
The BBC reported that 38 North had looked at photos of the Sohae station.
38 North is a site that often carries commercial satellite imagery. This image was under Air Defense and Space. The site does look like dismantling is in progress. According to the photo, the following progress had been made on the rocket launch site:
- Two old fuel oxidizer bunker is partially demolished.
- The test stand superstructure is completely dismantled and the base is being removed, and
- A rail mounted environmental shelter is now gone.
Satellite images indicate North Korea has started dismantling rocket launch sitehttps://t.co/86Fwf3K8xr pic.twitter.com/fNUmLZDhon
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) July 24, 2018
Trump-Kim summit discussed dismantling at Singapore summit
BBC noted that Trump discussed projects like this with North Korea during the June Trump-Kim summit in Singapore.
At the time, exact locations and projects were not released to the media. Despite the media hype around Trump's promises that the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsular would happen, neither country elaborated on any details.
Trump's claim that North Korea had not carried out launches and tests in the last nine months is correct.
Late last year, the last known nuclear test was carried out. In total, they carried out six tests. At the time, the Washington Post reported there was an extremely powerful explosion that took place in tunnels at the Punggye-ri site.
