N Korea dismantles missile site in move ‘consistent’ with pledge
NORTH Korea has started to dismantle a key missile test site, in a sign that the country is prepared to obey a commitment it made to the US.
The 38 North website, which monitors the country, said recent satellite images indicate the rogue state began dismantling key facilities at its Sohae launch site in the past two weeks.
A rocket engine test stand used to develop liquid-fuel engines for ballistic missiles is among the facilities that are being taken apart, according to the report. Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, pledged to destroy a missileengine test site during a historic Singapore summit with Donald Trump, the US president, in June.
“Since these facilities are believed to have played an important role in the development of technologies for the North’s intercontinental ballistic missile program, these efforts represent a significant confidence building measure on the part of North Korea,” Joseph Bermudez, an analyst and expert on North Korea’s weapons programs, wrote in the report.
After his June 12 meeting, Mr Trump said the North Korean leader had told him that the North was “already destroying a major missile engine testing site” without identifying which site. The leaders concluded their summit by declaring an aspirational goal of moving towards a nuclear-free Korean peninsula. Yesterday Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, said the report was “consistent” with the commitments Kim made in Singapore but stressed that the rogue state must “completely, fully denuclearise”.
An official from South Korea’s presidential office confirmed yesterday that Seoul has also been detecting dismantlement activities at the Sohae launch site in recent days.
However analysts have expressed scepticism over whether the current steps reduce the North’s military capability or represent a material step toward denuclearisation.
Adam Mount, a senior defence analyst at the Federation of American Scientists, said it was troubling that the state has been unilaterally dismantling parts of its nuclear and missile facilities without the presence of international inspectors.