North Korea Rebuilds Part of Missile Site, US Warns of Sanctions

By: Yassmine ElSayed

CAIRO, Mar. 6 (SEE) - North Korea has restored part of a rocket test site it began to dismantle after pledging to do so in a first summit with U.S. President Donald Trump last year.

South Korea's Yonhap News Agency and two U.S. think tanks reported that work was underway at the Sohae Satellite Launching Station at Tongchang-ri, even as Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a second summit in Hanoi last week.

That summit broke down over differences on how far North Korea was willing to limit its nuclear program and the degree of U.S. willingness to ease sanctions.

On his part, Trump's National Security Adviser John Bolton warned that new sanctions could be introduced if Pyongyang did not scrap its nuclear weapons program.

He told Fox Business Network: "If they're not willing to do it, then I think President Trump has been very clear ... they're not going to get relief from the crushing economic sanctions that have been imposed on them and we'll look at ramping those sanctions up in fact".

Separately, two U.S. senators sought to dial up pressure on North Korea by reintroducing a bill to impose sanctions on any bank that does business with its government.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday he was hopeful the United States would send a delegation to North Korea in the coming weeks, but Bolton's remarks and the apparent developments at the Sohae test site may cause new challenges for diplomats hoping to restart negotiations after the failed summit.