SoKor military says North preparing nuke site closure
SEOUL (AP) — North Korea is moving ahead with plans to close its nuclear test site next week, South Korea’s military said yesterday, an assessment backed by US researchers who said satellite images show the North has begun dismantling facilities at the site.
The site’s closure would set up next month’s historic summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump, which is shaping up to be a crucial moment in the global diplomatic push to resolve the nuclear standoff with the North. Still, analysts say the closure wouldn’t represent a material step toward full denuclearization.
Roh Jae-cheon, spokesman for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the South’s military has seen signs that the North is conducting “preparatory work” so that it can carry out its plans to shut down its northeastern testing ground. He did not specify what the military has seen.
But an analysis by 38 North, a North Korea-focused US website, said commercial imagery taken last week shows that several operational support buildings have been razed and rails for mining carts have apparently been removed. The site has been used for each of North Korea’s six underground nuclear test explosions.
“Commercial satellite imagery from May 7 provided the first definitive evidence that dismantlement of the test site was already well underway,” the website wrote.
North Korea’s Foreign Ministry announced Saturday that it will dismantle the test site between May 23 and 25. To provide transparency, the ministry said journalists from South Korea, the United States, China, Russia and Britain will be invited to observe the destruction of tunnels and the removal of observation and research facilities at the site.