The ‘decoders’ said it was too late for a preemptive military strike and Kim Jong-un may be able to hide and launch nuclear missiles from tunnels located around North Korea.
Pyongyang is giving away more information than it realises as the team of analysts are able to pick out clues about the hermit nation’s military capabilities from looking at photos issued by North Korea itself.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, nonproliferation expert Jeffery Lewis said: “Everybody thinks they’re a joke, like they’re some kind of incompetent buffoons.
“We weren’t surprised that they were ready to test an ICBM because I looked at the pictures.”
Mr Lewis claims North Korea already has nuclear weapons and its too late for a preemptive military strike.
He added talks between the US and North Korea will be around “nuclear arms limitation, not elimination Kim’s nuclear program. The doors for military action are basically closed”.
The team said a picture of a missile being refuelled horizontally, not only indicates advance technology but suggests North Korea would be able to hide its weapons in a tunnel and prepare them for launch without being seen.
And Mr Lewis said that if the US assassinated Kim, his generals could take revenge and launch the missiles.
Jason Bellini, producer of the video, said: “Researchers are starting to see a gradual, begrudging acceptance that it’s too late to stop Korea from becoming a member of the nuclear club.”
The analysts are working outside of the government to determine when North Korea is bluffing and when it shows its true power.
Using images issued from Pyongyang the team were able to work out the size of the missiles, what fuel they use and the engine power.
Looking closely at the images the team suggest the North Koreans are using highly advanced computerised machine tools to build its missiles.
And when asked whether the rogue country had a compact nuclear weapon able to travel on a missile, Mr Lewis revealed: “We are talking about a missile that would successfully re-enter and hit the continental United States”.
The team have also pinpointed the moment North Korea faked a missile launch.
Studying the footage carefully they were able to discover a video of a ‘successful’ ballistic missile launch from a submarine was actually doctored to include footage of a missile entering the clouds instead. The ballistic missile exploded shortly after impact.
The team also use satellite imagery to track day to day changes at missile storage and test locations.