Asia & Pacific

With technology, these researchers are figuring out North Korea’s nuclear secrets

By Anna Fifield November 21 at 5:04 AM

MONTEREY, Calif. — There were reports going around last month that North Korea had tested another solid-fuel missile engine, a type of engine that can be deployed much faster than the older liquid-fueled ones. ... Kim Jong Un’s media outlets hadn’t bragged about it — as they had done in previous tests — so the experts at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies’ nonproliferation center got to work.

They figured that the North Korean rocket scientists would have used the same immovable concrete block they used for an engine test last year. ... Dave Schmerler — a researcher nicknamed “Geolocation Jesus” by Jeffrey Lewis, who runs the center’s East Asia program — had quickly located the site of the earlier test.
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Although the bombs are difficult, Lewis’s team has been able to determine some information about where North Korea is showing them off — and there is some evidence that Pyongyang may be trying to thwart the team. ... When Kim inspected the first warhead North Korea publicized — a round device nicknamed the “disco ball” — it didn’t take ­Schmerler long to find the building. ... He counted the high beams on the roof and measured the skylight windows and went “cruising” over North Korea and found the exact building. Matching beams, matching skylights.

The next time North Korea published a photo of a warhead — the “peanut” detonated in September — the photos were taken in a completely white room where there was nothing to measure. No beams, no windows, just sloped floors that suggested it was underground. ... “Hats off,” said Schmerler (although he thinks he still figured out the location).
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Anna Fifield is The Post’s bureau chief in Tokyo, focusing on Japan and the Koreas. She previously reported for the Financial Times from Washington DC, Seoul, Sydney, London and from across the Middle East. Follow @annafifield