North Korea ‘demolishes’ nuclear test facility as journalists watch

Trump cancels summit with Kim

NORTH Korea carried out what it said is the demolition of its nuclear test site yesterday, setting off a series of explosions over several hours in the presence of foreign journalists.

The explosions at the nuclear test site deep in the mountains of the North’s sparsely populated northeast were centered on three tunnels into the underground site and a number of observation towers in the surrounding area.

The planned closing was previously announced by leader Kim Jong Un ahead of his planned summit with United States (U.S.) President Donald Trump next month.

The demolition came as the North lobbed another verbal salvo at Washington, calling Vice President Mike Pence a “political dummy” and saying it is just as ready to meet in a nuclear confrontation as at the negotiating table.

The North’s decision to close the Punggye-ri nuclear test site has generally been seen as a welcome gesture by Kim to set a positive tone ahead of the sum- mit. Even so, it is not an irreversible move and would need to be followed by many more significant measures to meet Trump’s demands for real denuclearization.

By bringing in the foreign media, mainly television networks, the North is apparently hoping to have images of the closing — including explosions to collapse tunnel entrances — broadcast around the world. The group included an Associatedpress Television crew.

The North did not invite international inspectors to the ceremony, which limits its value as a serious concession.

The outburst at Pence, issued in the name of a top Foreign Ministry official, comes on the heels of another sharp rebuke of Trump’s newly appointed national security adviser, John Bolton, and has raised concerns that a major gap has opened between the two sides just weeks before the June 12

Singapore.

In both cases, Pyongyang was trying to push back against hard-line comments suggesting North Korea may end up like Libya if it doesn’t move forward quickly and irreversibly with concrete measures to get rid of its nuclear weapons.

Choe Son Hui, a vice minister of foreign affairs, was quoted yesterday by the North’s state-run news agency slamming as “ignorant” and “stupid” com- summit in ments Pence made in an interview with Fox News that compared the nuclearcapable North to Libya. Libya gave up its program at an early stage only to see its longtime dictator overthrown and brutally killed years later.

Meanwhile, Trump has cancelled a planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

He said he had made the decision based on the “tremendous anger and open hostility” in a recent North Korean statement.