Nuclear site work starts
Korea: Trump talks threatened
SEOUL: Satellite imagery shows North Korea dismantling facilities at its nuclear test site, but experts say the images cannot reveal whether it is the first step towards full denuclearisation, or an attempt to cloak nuclear capabilities from outside observers.
North Korea’s intentions were thrown further into doubt yesterday, when it abruptly announced it may ‘‘reconsider’’ its meeting with US President Donald Trump next month if the United States continues to insist on unilateral denuclearisation.
Commercial satellite imagery — including photos taken by Planet Labs as recently as May 14 — shows North Korea removing some structures around its nuclear test site at Punggyeri, experts say.
‘‘So far it looks like the surfacelevel support structures are being dismantled,’’ Scott LaFoy, an open source imagery analyst, said.
‘‘This would be consistent with the site being closed, as you need engineers and working teams onsite to prepare and maintain the site.’’
Among the facilities that appear to have been razed are an engineering office, as well as buildings housing the air compressor used to pump air into tunnels where bombs were detonated, nonproliferation expert Frank Pabian, said.
‘‘This is entirely in keeping with the official North Korean news report that ‘technical measures’ associated with the shutdown were under way.’’
North Korea has said it plans to use explosives to collapse the tunnels; ‘‘completely’’ block the tunnel entrances; and remove observation facilities, research institutes and guard structures.
Some foreign media have been invited to view the ceremonial closure of the site, but so far no international inspectors, leading some experts to suspect North Korea is seeking to hide details of its nuclear capabilities.
‘‘North Korea might seem like they’re being generous in holding this event, but this is the actual testing ground we’re talking about here — the smoking gun,’’ Suh Kuneyull, professor of nuclear energy system engineering at Seoul National University, said.
‘‘It seems like they’re trying to erase any evidence of the nuclear capabilities they have.’’
In a statement yesterday, North Korea’s first viceminister of foreign affairs Kim Kye Gwan sharply criticised US officials, especially national security adviser John Bolton, for suggesting Libya could be a template for denuclearising North Korea.
Bolton has proposed Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jongun make a deal similar to the one that led to components of Libya’s nuclear programme being shipped to the US in 2004.
In 2011, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was captured and killed by rebel forces backed by a Nato air campaign.
LaFoy said North Korea’s actions so far are ‘‘not necessarily nefarious,’’ but raise some ‘‘red flags’’ about complete permanent denuclearisation.
‘‘That imagery tells us the site appears to be in the process of decommissioning,’’ he said.
‘‘But we can’t yet tell if it is going to be closed for years or something that can ultimately be reversed in a few weeks or months.’’
North Korea yesterday cancelled a highlevel meeting with South Korea over military exercises between Seoul and Washington that Pyongyang has long claimed are invasion rehearsals.
The North’s Korean Central News Agency called the twoweek Max Thunder drills, which began on Monday and reportedly include about 100 aircraft, an ‘‘intended military provocation’’.—