38 North

1 week ago | 38north.org | Martyn Williams

Kim Jong Un’s latest deadline to open the Wonsan-Kalma Beach Resort “by May” is just a few weeks away. Commercial satellite imagery indicates construction projects at the resort are rapidly approaching completion. Originally scheduled to open in 2019 but delayed largely due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the new target was set in July last year when Kim conducted a field guidance trip to the resort.

2 weeks ago | 38north.org | Peter Makowsky |Jack J. Liu |Iliana Ragnone |Martyn Williams

Commercial satellite imagery of Nampho Port indicates North Korea’s newest warship has likely left the construction hall and is positioned inside a floating drydock berthed at the newly refurbished quay. It has been less than a year since the first observable signs of construction were seen at Nampho, the west coast command headquarters for North Korea’s navy and the country’s largest commercial port.

3 weeks ago | 38north.org | Daniel DePetris

From March 23 to 25, US officials facilitated indirect negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in an attempt to cement a short-term ceasefire in a war that crossed its four-year mark in February. The latest round of shuttle diplomacy occurred two weeks after Washington and Kyiv agreed to a 30-day truce on land, air and sea.

4 weeks ago | 38north.org | Martyn Williams |Iliana Ragnone

Less than a month after North Korean state media conveyed Kim Jong Un’s ambitious 20×10 regional development plan, residents of Yonthan, North Hwanghae province—one of the first construction sites—were visited by then-Premier Kim Tok Hun to survey initial progress. Despite the importance of the plan, the premier’s visit received relatively muted coverage in state media—it was featured on the bottom of the front page Rodong Sinmun and ignored by state television.

1 month ago | 38north.org | Peter Makowsky |Jack J. Liu |Iliana Ragnone |Martyn Williams

As springtime brings warmer weather and softer ground, work to expand the road and rail infrastructure throughout North Korea’s Sohae Satellite Launching Station continues. Recent commercial satellite imagery indicates that efforts to cut a new road, or possible rail bed, connecting the east tunnel entrance with the coastal launch pad and southern seaport are underway, which could allow for vehicles or launch materials to easily travel to and from the various parts of the complex.