N. Korea wants world to watch as it dismantles nuclear test site
North Korea is ready to dismantle its nuclear test site — and it wants the world to watch.
Pyongyang officials detailed plans Saturday to raze the country’s nuclear testing ground in less than two weeks, in the lead up to Kim Jong Un’s summit with President Trump next month.
“A ceremony for dismantling the nuclear test ground is now scheduled between May 23 and 25,” depending on weather conditions, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Officials said that underground testing tunnels at the site will be collapsed by explosives, and that observation, research and guard facilities will also be destroyed.
Journalists from the U.S., South Korea, China, Russia and Britain will be invited to document the demolishing.
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North Korean officials said the country 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.”
Kim, in talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in last month, refuted claims by Chinese scientists that parts of facility have become unusable following a collapse at the site.
Secretary of State Pompeo pledged Friday that North Korea can look forward to “a future brimming with peace and prosperity” if it agrees to quickly give up its nuclear weapons.
Pompeo, who returned from Pyongyang this week with three Americans who had been held captive by North Korea, said the release of the detainees helped set conditions for a successful meeting between Trump and Kim in Singapore on June 12.
South Korean officials, who have acted as intermediaries for Washington and Pyongyang as plans for the Trump-Kim meeting have come together, have said Kim is genuinely interested in dealing away his nuclear weapons in return for the easing of sanctions and other economic benefits.
However, there are lingering doubts about whether Kim would ever agree to fully relinquish the weapons he likely views as his only guarantee of survival.
During their summit at a border truce village, Moon and Kim vaguely promised to work toward the “complete denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula, but made no references to verification or timetables.
The North’s statement Saturday didn’t make any mention of allowing experts on the site.
Kim declared his nuclear arsenal complete last year after months of ramped up missile test that coincided with a heated war of words with Trump.
The two have since toned down their rhetoric as they approach the historic summit next month.
