North Korean site identified as suspected rocket fuel facility

The Center for Nonproliferation Studies has identified at least one of the sites in North Korea suspected of producing the rocket fuel 1,1-dimethylhydrazine, also known as unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) – the February 8 Vinalon Complex in Hungnam. The researchers at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies made the discovery by examining scientific work documenting the country’s production of the chemical, which is used in combination with an oxidiser such as nitrogen tetroxide. Dimethylhydrazine is known to be used by North Korea’s new generation of long-range ballistic missiles.