N. Korea to destroy nuke site before summit
Critics argue move does little to hasten full denuclearization
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Saturday that it will dismantle its nuclear test site in less than two weeks, in a dramatic event that would set up leader Kim Jong Un’s summit with President Donald Trump next month.
In a statement carried by state media, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said all of the tunnels at the country’s northeastern testing ground will be destroyed by explosion, and observation and research facilities and groundbased guard units also will be removed.
Kim had revealed plans to shut down the test site by the end of May during his summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in last month. Analysts say the closure of the site is important, but it doesn’t represent a material step toward full denuclearization.
“A ceremony for dismantling the nuclear test ground is now scheduled between May 23 and 25,” depending on weather conditions, the Foreign Ministry’s statement said.
It said the North will invite journalists from the United States, South Korea, China, Russia and Britain to witness the dismantling process.
The journalists will travel by train from the North Korean city of Wonsan to the test site, the statement said.
The ministry said the North will continue to “promote close contacts and dialogue with the neighboring countries and the international society so as to safeguard peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and over the globe.”
Following the Moon-Kim summit, Moon’s office said Kim was willing to disclose the process to international experts, but the North’s statement Saturday didn’t include any mention about allowing experts on the site.
South Korea had no immediate response to the statement.
The North’s announcement comes days after Washington announced the historic summit between Kim and Trump will be held June 12 in Singapore.
Seoul, which shuttled between Washington and Pyongyang to set up the Trump-Kim meeting, has said Kim has genuine interest in dealing away his nuclear weapons in return for economic benefits. But there are lingering doubts about whether Kim would agree to relinquish the weapons he likely views as his only guarantee of survival.
North Korea for decades has been pushing a concept of “denuclearization” that bears no resemblance to the American definition.
The North has been vowing to pursue nuclear development unless Washington removes its 28,500 troops from South Korea and the nuclear umbrella defending South Korea and Japan.
Some experts believe Kim might try to drag out the process to wait out the Trump administration or seek a deal in which he gives away his intercontinental ballistic missiles but retains some of his shorter-range arsenal in return for a reduced U.S. military presence in the South. .
Kim declared his nuclear force as complete in December, following North Korea’s most powerful nuclear test to date in September and three flight tests of ICBMs designed to reach the U.S. mainland.
North Korea announced at a ruling party meeting last month that it was suspending all tests of nuclear devices and ICBMs, as well as the plan to close the nuclear testing ground.
Kim said during the meeting that the nuclear test site’s mission had come “to an end” because the North had completed the process of developing nuclear-capable intermediate-range missiles, ICBMs and other strike means.
North Korea has invited the outside world to witness the dismantling of its nuclear facilities before. In June 2008, international broadcasters were allowed to air the demolishing of a cooling tower at the Yongbyon reactor site, a year after the North reached an agreement with the U.S. and four other nations to disable its nuclear facilities in return for an aid package worth about $400 million.