Special to WorldTribune.com

Bill Gertz, Washington Free Beacon

Satellite images of a North Korean submarine facility show what appears to be a missile tube being developed for a future ballistic missile submarine.

The commercial imagery was disclosed Tuesday in an article published Tuesday by the group 38 North. … “A review of commercial satellite imagery since 2010 covering submarine bases and submarine shipyards has identified a new test stand at the North’s Sinpo South Shipyard, probably intended to explore the possibility of launching ballistic missiles from submarines or of a shipboard vertical launch ballistic missile capability,” wrote Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., a North Korea expert with AllSource Analysis, Inc. …

The report said a future North Korean missile-firing sub would give Pyongyang a survivable second-strike nuclear capability.

Meanwhile, the commander of U.S. forces in Korea said last week that he believes North Korea now has the capability to make a nuclear warhead for a missile. Army Gen. Curtis Scaparratti … said the regime claims it already has miniaturized a weapon to fit on an intercontinental-range missile.

“Personally, I think that they certainly have had the expertise in the past,” Scaparratti said. “They’ve had the right connections. And so I believe they have the capability to have miniaturized the device at this point, and they have the technology to potentially actually deliver what they say they have.”

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