An American researcher has discovered the real location of North Korea’s biggest underground arms factory through satellite images.
Dubbed as a ‘Bond villain lair,’ the underground factory is identified as Kanggye General Tractor Plant or Factory No. 26, with multiple floors and accommodation facilities for over 20,000 workers in the Chagang province.
The entry to the 176,00sq ft lair, situated within a hill that extends up to 1.2 km, is through nine long tunnels, the Daily Star reported.
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Jacob Bogle, the researcher who analyzed the satellite images, believes that it is not possible for any average person to figure out the importance of the factory just by looking at it, as it is not built like any other plant.
Describing it as ‘nondescript’, Bogle said that accompanying the factory are almost 50 hectares of administrative buildings, warehouses and also a small stadium for the workers, built just in front of the hill and the entrance of the underground section.
“The factory is somewhat nondescript. But if you look at the hill you can see small buildings extending straight into the rock and at least nine entrance tunnels,” he told Metro News.
The researcher mentioned that the Kanggye Plant is charge of manufacturing ammunition like self-propelled artillery as well as parts of short-range ballistic missiles.
The factory also was praised by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for producing ‘highly efficient machinery’ and contributing towards strengthening the ‘defense capabilities’ of the nation when he visited the ground in 2019, as per Korean Central News Agency.
Bogle added that the workers are under heavy scrutiny as they are always subjected to body searches with security looking for any item that is capable of starting a fire.
The factory is said to have been built in the 1950s after the Korean War and as per locals a massive explosion in 1991 killed almost 1,000 workers. Several of them were also trapped underground when authorities had reportedly blocked all exits, Daily NK reported.
The plant was rebuilt four years later, keeping in mind several amenities for the workers and their families. Bogle added that now, it also has a swimming pool and a medical clinic along with the stadium.
