Other names: Komdŏk-san Underground Nodong Missile Base, Hwadae-kun Nodong Missile Base, Komdŏk-san Missile Base, Mt. Komdŏk Missile Base, Komdok-san Missile Base, Mt. Komdok Missile Base
Location: Mt. Komdŏk (곰덕산), Hwadae-kun (花坮郡), North Hamgyŏng Province (咸鏡北道), North Korea
Subordinate to: Missile Division (미사일 師團), Ministry of the People's Armed Forces (人民武力省), National Defense Commission (國防委員會)
Primary Function: Deployment and launch of Nodong missiles
Description: According to North Korean defector Im Yŏng Sŏn, North Korea began construction of several long-range missile bases in the late 1980s, and the construction of an underground base at Mt. Komdŏk had been completed by the time of his defection in 1993. The South Korean Ministry of National Defense and some military analysts speculate that the missile base at Mt. Komdŏk is an underground facility inside the mountain, and that it is similar to the Nodong missile base located at Okp’yŏng-dong in Munch’ŏn, Kangwon Province. A significant advantage for this type of missile facility is that reconnaissance satellites cannot detect launch preparations prior to launch.
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Updated August 2003 |
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Key Sources:
“‘Pukhan, Yŏngbyŏnsŏ Chiha Haekshilhŏm’/Changgŏri Missile Kiji Su’got Kŏnsŏl,” Taehan Maeil, 25 August 1993, p. 22, in KINDS, <http://www.kinds.or.kr>; “North Korea Updates Taepo Dong Launch Pad,” Jane’s Missiles & Rockets, Vol. 5, No. 7, July 2001, p. 2; Kim Hong Chin, “Guam-Il Tŭng Migun’gonggyŏk Missile Kiji/Puk, 2 Kot Wan’gong 2 Kot Kŏnsŏlchung,” Chosun Ilbo, 25 August 1993, <http://www.chosun.com>; Eya Osamu, Kim Sei Nichi Daizukan (Tokyo: Shogakkan, 2000), pp. 14-15.
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