“From Australian media reports”.
North Korea sets dates for ceremony to dismantle nuclear test site
13 May 2018
North Korea says it will hold a ceremony for the dismantling of its nuclear test site sometime between May 23 and 25 in what would be a dramatic and symbolic event to set up leader Kim Jong-un's summit with President Donald Trump next month.
The country's central news agency said the dismantlement of the nuclear test ground would involve collapsing all of its tunnels with explosions, blocking its entrances and removing all observation facilities, research buildings and security posts.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in (left) and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
"The Nuclear Weapon Institute and other concerned institutions are taking technical measures for dismantling the northern nuclear test ground of the DPRK in order to ensure transparency of discontinuance of the nuclear test," state media reported. DPRK is an acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The announcement comes after US President Donald Trump said he would hold a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore on June 12. It will be the first meeting ever between a sitting US president and the leader of North Korea.
It follows a flurry of international engagement with North Korea as the two Koreas held their own summit in late April and officials plan to hold high-level meetings in coming weeks.
The country's central news agency said the dismantlement of the nuclear test ground would involve collapsing all of its tunnels with explosions, blocking its entrances and removing all observation facilities, research buildings and security posts.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in (left) and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
"The Nuclear Weapon Institute and other concerned institutions are taking technical measures for dismantling the northern nuclear test ground of the DPRK in order to ensure transparency of discontinuance of the nuclear test," state media reported. DPRK is an acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The announcement comes after US President Donald Trump said he would hold a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore on June 12. It will be the first meeting ever between a sitting US president and the leader of North Korea.
It follows a flurry of international engagement with North Korea as the two Koreas held their own summit in late April and officials plan to hold high-level meetings in coming weeks.
Trump's Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday North Korea can look forward to "a future brimming with peace and prosperity" if it agrees to quickly give up its nuclear weapons.
Officials in Seoul had said in April that North Korea planned to invite experts and journalists from the United States and South Korea for the shutdown of its test site.
North Korea said journalists from other countries, including the United States, South Korea, China, Russia and Britain, will be invited to cover the event, to "show in a transparent manner the dismantlement of the northern nuclear test ground to be carried out".
In order to accommodate the travelling journalists, North Korea said various measures would be taken including "opening territorial air space".
All international journalists will be provided with a charter flight into Wonsan, a port city in eastern North Korea, from Beijing, the news agency said. There, reporters will board a charter train to the nuclear test ground in an "uninhabited deep mountain area".
Officials in Seoul had said in April that North Korea planned to invite experts and journalists from the United States and South Korea for the shutdown of its test site.
North Korea said journalists from other countries, including the United States, South Korea, China, Russia and Britain, will be invited to cover the event, to "show in a transparent manner the dismantlement of the northern nuclear test ground to be carried out".
In order to accommodate the travelling journalists, North Korea said various measures would be taken including "opening territorial air space".
All international journalists will be provided with a charter flight into Wonsan, a port city in eastern North Korea, from Beijing, the news agency said. There, reporters will board a charter train to the nuclear test ground in an "uninhabited deep mountain area".
North Korea's six known nuclear tests have taken place in Punggye-ri, a location in the northeastern part of North Korea where a system of tunnels have been dug under Mount Mantap.
Some experts have said the pledge to dismantle the test site is a big step forward, but verifying it will be difficult. Others say the closure of the site is mostly symbolic and doesn't represent a material step toward denuclearisation.
Still, the closure of the site could be a useful precedent for Washington and Seoul as they proceed with the nuclear negotiations with Pyongyang, analysts say.
"Now that North Korea has accepted in principle that agreements should be verified, US negotiators should hold them to this standard for any subsequent agreement," said Adam Mount, a senior defense analyst at the Federation of American Scientists. "It will make it more difficult for Kim Jong-un to deny inspections now that he has placed them on the table."
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 Nyongbyon reactor site, a year after the North reached an agreement with the US and four other nations to disable its nuclear facilities in return for an aid package worth about $400 million.
Some experts have said the pledge to dismantle the test site is a big step forward, but verifying it will be difficult. Others say the closure of the site is mostly symbolic and doesn't represent a material step toward denuclearisation.
Still, the closure of the site could be a useful precedent for Washington and Seoul as they proceed with the nuclear negotiations with Pyongyang, analysts say.
"Now that North Korea has accepted in principle that agreements should be verified, US negotiators should hold them to this standard for any subsequent agreement," said Adam Mount, a senior defense analyst at the Federation of American Scientists. "It will make it more difficult for Kim Jong-un to deny inspections now that he has placed them on the table."
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 Nyongbyon reactor site, a year after the North reached an agreement with the US and four other nations to disable its nuclear facilities in return for an aid package worth about $400 million.
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