Trump: Disappointed if North Korea rebuilding test site

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday he would be "very, very disappointed" if a report that North Korea is rebuilding a long-range rocket test site is true.

Addressing reporters at the White House, Trump said "it’s too early to see" if the report published by Washington-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the Korea-focused 38 North website is correct.

The group used satellite images that appear to show Pyongyang rapidly reconstructing the Sohae long-range rocket test site in Cholsan County.

The study concluded that "North Korea is pursuing a rapid rebuilding of the long-range rocket site at Sohae."

The new work began just two days after Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un unsuccessfully concluded a second summit in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Sohae had in the past been used to conduct tests of technologies applicable to intercontinental ballistic missiles that North Korea is banned from conducting by the UN Security Council.

"It’s a very early report," Trump said. "But I would be very, very disappointed in Chairman Kim. And I don’t think I will be, but we’ll see what happens. We’ll take a look. It’ll ultimately get solved."

Trump said his talks with Kim broke down because the North Korean leader wanted the removal of sanctions "in their entirety," a claim rejected by Pyongyang, which insists it merely wanted a partial lifting of the biting economic penalties.