Kim open to nuke site probe

PYONGYANG: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has expressed a willingness to allow inspectors into the country’s main nuclear complex, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported on Tuesday, quoting a senior diplomatic source.

“I understand that Chairman Kim told President Moon during their summit in September that if the US took corresponding steps, he would not only be willing to shut down the Yongbyon nuclear facilities but also allow verification,” the source was quoted as saying. Mr Moon then conveyed the message to US President Donald Trump when the two met during the UN General Assembly in New York later that month, according to the source.

In a joint declaration with Mr Moon, Mr Kim, chairman of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, voiced a willingness to permanently dismantle Yongbyon, but without any explicit mention of expert international oversight. North Korea has yet to take credible action to dismantle its weapons programs despite Mr Kim pledging in a historic meeting with Mr Trump in June in Singapore to work toward “complete” denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

Washington has demanded that Pyongyang disclose a full inventory of nuclear weapons and fissile materials as a first step toward the US goal of achieving the final, fully verified denuclearisation of North Korea. Analysts say whether North Korea will allow inspectors from a verification body such as the International Atomic Energy Agency into the country will be a major test for Mr Kim’s promise.

Pyongyang, however, has insisted it first wants a declaration formally ending the Korean War as a way of building trust and guaranteeing its security.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank, said recently that it has identified 13 of an estimated 20 missile operating bases that North Korea has not yet declared.