Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site, Nuclear test facility in Kilju County, North Korea.
The Punggye-ri facility contains multiple underground tunnels beneath Mount Mantap, designed for conducting nuclear experiments in controlled conditions.
Between 2006 and 2017, North Korea conducted six nuclear tests at Punggye-ri, with the final test in September 2017 showing increased explosive yield.
The presence of this nuclear facility has transformed the local agricultural region into a restricted military zone, altering the lives of nearby communities.
Access to Punggye-ri remains restricted, with satellite monitoring providing the primary means of observing activities at the mountain testing complex.
Environmental changes near Punggye-ri include the death of vegetation and the depletion of underground water sources following nuclear detonations.
Location: Kilju County
GPS coordinates: 41.27778,129.08722
Latest update: May 27, 2025 06:46
This collection brings together underground military sites, strategic bunkers, and highly secured installations across the world. Many of these places were built during the Cold War, when nuclear threats pushed governments to create protected command centers deep under mountains or in remote areas. Some remain active today, serving national security purposes, while others have been decommissioned but preserve their massive concrete structures and tunnels. Though their existence is known from public sources, access remains strictly forbidden. The sites include the Raven Rock Mountain Complex in Pennsylvania, carved deep into the Appalachian Mountains with tunnels stretching for miles through solid rock, and the Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station in Colorado, where rooms rest on massive springs inside the Rocky Mountains to absorb shocks from potential attacks. In Russia, the Skalisty submarine base serves nuclear submarines through underground piers carved directly into rock along the Barents Sea. RAF Menwith Hill in North Yorkshire spreads across a wide area marked by white geodesic domes that protect satellite antennas, while the Svalbard Global Seed Vault lies embedded in arctic permafrost, storing millions of plant seeds behind thick concrete walls. These places show how governments sought to protect command systems, military operations, and even biological reserves by building deep into mountains or along remote coastlines, creating installations that remain largely hidden from public view.
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