Trump: North Korea 'total denuclearization' started

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - US President Donald Trump said on Thursday North Korea was blowing up four of its big test sites and that a process of “total denuclearization ... has already started,” but officials said there was no such evidence since a landmark summit last week.

Trump said at a Cabinet meeting in the White House that “They’ve stopped the sending of missiles, including ballistic missiles. They’re destroying their engine site. They’re blowing it up. They’ve already blown up one of their big test sites, in fact it’s actually four of their big test sites.

“And the big thing is it will be a total denuclearization, which has already started taking place.”

It was not immediately clear which North Korean test sites Trump was referring to and US officials familiar with current intelligence on North Korea’s nuclear and missile test sites said there was no evidence of new moves to dismantle any sites since Trump met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on June 12.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, speculated Trump might have been referring to explosions last month that North Korea said were to destroy tunnels at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site and the dismantling of a medium-range ballistic missile test stand at Iha-ri, also in May.

There had been contact with North Korean officials since the summit, the US State Department said.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo “will be meeting with them and talking with them at the earliest possible date” to implement what was agreed in Singapore, spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters, without providing further details.

A US official said on Wednesday that the site Trump referred to then was the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground, a major facility in the western part of the country that has been used for testing engines for long-range missiles.

Trump went on to say that the “number-one statement” in the document he and Kim signed in Singapore was “we will immediately begin total denuclearization of North Korea,” although there was no such statement in the text.

Pompeo told the same Cabinet meeting Kim had made a personal commitment, and added: “He has got his reputation on the line.”

Trump also said the remains of US troops missing from the Korean War were in the process of being returned to the United States from North Korea, correcting a statement he made a day earlier.

Trump said on Wednesday the remains of 200 American servicemen had already been sent back, following on from the agreement he reached with Kim in Singapore.