North Korea is engaged in major construction at its long-range rocket launch facility along its west coast, a U.S. think tank said Saturday, citing recent satellite imagery.
   According to 38 North, an analysis program of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University, construction work may be underway at the Tongchang-ri launch site.
   After initial analysis on photos taken on Sunday it claimed there were six construction sites at the location, with the most noteworthy at a 45-meter by 65-meter plot of land to the west of the existing launch pad.
   The think tank's latest findings, monitored in Seoul, said it is too early to say what the purpose of the construction is, but speculated that it may be a second launch platform that could be used to test the KN-08 intermediate-range ballistic missile or its Musudan rocket system.
   Both are mobile rocket systems carried on transporter erector launcher vehicles and have a range between 4,000-5,000 kilometers.
   It said that since work seems to be under way, the communist country, which has a track record of launching long-range rockets, may be reading itself for another test, possibly in about six months.
   Besides the supposed launch pad, the think tank said it detected a radar station, parking spaces for TELs, barracks for troops, roads and even a train with 11 carriages nearby.
   Meanwhile, experts who checked the photos expressed their views that the North may be moving for another launch that could allow them to test their long-range missiles. (Yonhap)