---
title: "Punggye-ri nuclear test site: North Korea Strategic Site Dossier | Save North Korea"
description: "Punggye-ri nuclear test site (Nuclear): All six nuclear tests (2006-2017) happened here. Tunnels were blown up for cameras in 2018, then repaired."
url: "https://savenorthkorea.org/places/punggye-ri"
language: en
translations:
  en: https://savenorthkorea.org/places/punggye-ri
  ko: https://savenorthkorea.org/ko/places/punggye-ri
  ja: https://savenorthkorea.org/ja/places/punggye-ri
  zh-Hans: https://savenorthkorea.org/zh/places/punggye-ri
---

[Key sites](https://savenorthkorea.org/places) · [Nuclear](https://savenorthkorea.org/places#nuclear)

 Nuclear 

# Punggye-ri nuclear test site

All six nuclear tests (2006-2017) happened here. Tunnels were blown up for cameras in 2018, then repaired.

**Restored, ready for a 7th test** status 

![Punggye-ri nuclear test site](https://savenorthkorea.org/img/places/punggye-ri.jpg)

[Photo via Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Punggye-ri%5FNuclear%5FTest%5FSite.jpg)

Punggye-ri nuclear test site · 41.2781°N, 129.0875°E [Google Maps ↗](https://www.google.com/maps/@41.2781,129.0875,15z/data=!3m1!1e3) · Imagery © Esri, Maxar, Earthstar Geographics 

[ Open on the intel map](https://savenorthkorea.org/map#sites=punggye-ri)[ North Korea’s military](https://savenorthkorea.org/military)

## Satellite watch

Captured 8 Oct 2026 

Our own images of this 5.1 km square from the European Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites: the newest clear picture, and the clearest one from each of the last 24 months. One pixel is 10 m, enough to see roads, fields, ponds and large buildings, not people.

![Sentinel-2 satellite image of Punggye-ri nuclear test site, 5.1 km across, captured 8 Oct 2026](https://savenorthkorea.org/img/sentinel/punggye-ri/2026-10-08.jpg)

![Sentinel-2 satellite image of Punggye-ri nuclear test site, 5.1 km across, captured 3 Oct 2025](https://savenorthkorea.org/img/sentinel/punggye-ri/2025-10-03.jpg)

3 Oct 2025 8 Oct 2026 

**Before: 3 Oct 2025** Cloud in this square: 0% Scene [S2B\_52TEL\_20251003\_0\_L2A](https://earth-search.aws.element84.com/v1/collections/sentinel-2-l2a/items/S2B%5F52TEL%5F20251003%5F0%5FL2A) [Open this day in Copernicus Browser ↗](https://browser.dataspace.copernicus.eu/?zoom=13&lat=41.27810&lng=129.08750&themeId=DEFAULT-THEME&datasetId=S2%5FL2A%5FCDAS&fromTime=2025-10-03T00%3A00%3A00.000Z&toTime=2025-10-03T23%3A59%3A59.999Z&layerId=1%5FTRUE%5FCOLOR) **After: 8 Oct 2026** Cloud in this square: 0% Scene [S2B\_52TEL\_20261008\_0\_L2A](https://earth-search.aws.element84.com/v1/collections/sentinel-2-l2a/items/S2B%5F52TEL%5F20261008%5F0%5FL2A) [Open this day in Copernicus Browser ↗](https://browser.dataspace.copernicus.eu/?zoom=13&lat=41.27810&lng=129.08750&themeId=DEFAULT-THEME&datasetId=S2%5FL2A%5FCDAS&fromTime=2026-10-08T00%3A00%3A00.000Z&toTime=2026-10-08T23%3A59%3A59.999Z&layerId=1%5FTRUE%5FCOLOR) 

Pick a month to compare with the latest image

We pick each image by measuring cloud inside this square from the satellite’s own scene classification. Months with no clear image are left out. We do not mark or interpret anything in the pictures. The ring marks the point on our map.

Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024-2026 · [Copernicus Data Space](https://dataspace.copernicus.eu/) · [Sentinel-2 L2A COGs (AWS)](https://registry.opendata.aws/sentinel-2-l2a-cogs/)

## Source

- [**Wikipedia** en.wikipedia.org ↗ ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punggye-ri%5FNuclear%5FTest%5FSite)

## More nuclear sites

- [![Yongbyon nuclear complex](https://savenorthkorea.org/img/places/yongbyon.jpg)  Nuclear **Yongbyon nuclear complex** Operating The heart of the nuclear program: reactors that make plutonium, a reprocessing plant and a uranium enrichment hall. ](https://savenorthkorea.org/places/yongbyon)
- [ © Esri, Maxar  Nuclear **Kangson enrichment site** Operating Suspected covert uranium enrichment plant near Pyongyang. Kim Jong Un visited an enrichment facility in 2024 in a rare public photo-op. ](https://savenorthkorea.org/places/kangson)
- [ © Esri, Maxar  Nuclear **Pyongsan uranium mill** Operating Mines and processes uranium ore into yellowcake, the raw material for the enrichment program. ](https://savenorthkorea.org/places/pyongsan)
