North Korean anti-aircraft artillery battery

Just my two-cents but I don't think that's a SAM site. It isn't configured like any SAM site I've ever seen, and I've seen quite a few of them. The location is not very good and there are just too many things there.

It looks, to me, like those are actually satellite dishes, some possibly in dome shelters. What looks like revetments are actually roads around each piece of equipment. I'm guessing it's a communications facility linked by a fairly well maintained road to the new, well-maintained H-shaped "Eagles Nest"-looking structure just to the northwest. In North Korea such well maintained sites, especially in a remote mountain area, almost always indicate government facilities. (North Koreans don't really spend a lot of time at mountain resorts).

I'll do some research tomorrow at work and see what I can find out about these two sites and the industrial facility in the valley in between.

I can send you the coordinates of another fourteen similar sites circling the "nuke plant" if you'd like to see them too.

If there's that many it is likely they are not SAMs but rather AAA sites. I did some checking this morning and the big facility at the bend of the river IS the nuclear fuels processing facility and the associated facilities.

There is a really good unclassified image at Globalsecurity.org, here.

The sites you've found are undoubtedly AAA and some artillery thrown in for good measure.

Well, just DARN IT!

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/dprk/images/yongbyon-cib1.jpg

Sorry. HTML was being abused by comment spammers, and had the potential for even worse mischeif, so it was disabled a while back.

Must be my lucky day. I found another, unclassified satellite image at Global Security showing "A close up of one of the 22 anti-aircraft artillery batteries protecting the Yongbyon Nuclear complex." I looks exactly like the sites in your images.

See here: http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/dprk/images/yongbyon_dg5.jpg

Looks like you found a whole mess of AAA gun sites.

I suppose HTML abuse was inevitible. Too bad really, it is quite useful.

I guess the reprocessing facility at the bend in the river explains the stream of melted ice eminating from an outlet due east of the facilities.

Considering their entire nuclear program seems to be at the mercy of this river, I imagine the river's dams are a bit of a vulnerabillity to everything from their reactors to the reprocessing facilities.

Based on your comments I agree these are AA sites too. But that then begs the question, "Where are the missile sites?"

Scavenger hunt time. I find it hard to beleive that a site of this value would have no SAM sites around it but I haven't found any. I guess they could be out further and thus not in the high res area.

I'm not sure what North Korean SAM sites look like so I guess I could have seen them but not recognized them. They could also be well hidden.

North Korean SAMs are mostly SA-2. SA-3, and SA-5 systems, all former Soviet equipment and generally laid out in the same patterns as you've seen in Iraq, Libya, and Egypt. If you see one, you'll recognize.

SA-2s have a nominal range of 27 NM, SA-3s are around 14 or so, and the SA-5 can, theoretically, reach out over 100 nm. Look between the facility and the greatest threat axis and within 25 NM of the facility and you should find the 2s and 3s. The SA-5s could be just about anywhere and still cover the site.

This might be of some assistance:

http://www.fas.org/news/dprk/1999/m0326l09.htm

"The 10 missiles sites in the North, have been confirmed to be located in Mt. Kanggamchan (Jungsan, South Pyongan Province), Mayangdo (Sinpo, South Hamkyong Province), Paekun-ri (Kusong, North Pyongan Province), Rodong-Taepodong (Hwadae, North Hamkyong Province), Chonggang-up (Huchang, Jagang Province), Okpyong (Munchon, Kangwon Province), Jiha-ri (Ichon, Kangwon Province) and three Pyongyang metropolitan areas of Sangwon-gun, Oryu-ri and Chunghwa-gun, the source said. "

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/dprk/facility.htm

This site lists the "targets" in North Korea with missiles protecting them. Yong Bong is not one of the sites listed as having missiles.

The North Koreans have had some problems maintaining their Soviet systems since the breakup of the USSR and the resulting lack of technical support. They don't have all that many functioning SAM sites as it is.

Notice how after the big bridge there is a tunnel for the highway.I would guess it Ts off and goes into the mountain