Asia

North Korea to begin dismantling nuclear test site ahead of Trump summit

Dates announced for decommissioning pledged by Kim Jong-un

will begin dismantling its nuclear test site in a ceremony set to take place between 23 and 25 May, according to reports in state media.

The ceremony will come just weeks before Kim Jong-un meets Donald Trump in Singapore for a historic leaders’ summit on 12 June.

Pyongyang’s state-run news agency KCNA reported the dates of the ceremony.

Observers had thought North Korea’s main test site at Punggye-ri had collapsed following the most recent – and most powerful – of repeated trials of nuclear devices.

KCNA said the dismantlement of the site would involve collapsing all of its tunnels with explosions, blocking entrances and removing all observation facilities, research buildings and security posts.

Journalists from other countries, including the US and South Korea, will be invited to cover the event.

Mr Kim had suggested he would hold such an event at last month's landmark Panmunjom summit, when he and South Korea president Moon Jae-in signed a pledge to seek the denuclearisation of the peninsula.

A recent study suggested significant parts of the Punggye-ri test site had already caved in. Nonetheless, some observers argued sections may still be usable, based on analysis of satellite imagery.

BIG WEEK(S) AHEAD?

North Korea to begin dismantling nuclear test site ahead of Trump summit

Dates announced for decommissioning pledged by Kim Jong-un

will begin dismantling its nuclear test site in a ceremony set to take place between 23 and 25 May, according to reports in state media.

The ceremony will come just weeks before Kim Jong-un meets Donald Trump in Singapore for a historic leaders’ summit on 12 June.

Pyongyang’s state-run news agency KCNA reported the dates of the ceremony.

Observers had thought North Korea’s main test site at Punggye-ri had collapsed following the most recent – and most powerful – of repeated trials of nuclear devices.

KCNA said the dismantlement of the site would involve collapsing all of its tunnels with explosions, blocking entrances and removing all observation facilities, research buildings and security posts.

Journalists from other countries, including the US and South Korea, will be invited to cover the event.

Mr Kim had suggested he would hold such an event at last month's landmark Panmunjom summit, when he and South Korea president Moon Jae-in signed a pledge to seek the denuclearisation of the peninsula.

A recent study suggested significant parts of the Punggye-ri test site had already caved in. Nonetheless, some observers argued sections may still be usable, based on analysis of satellite imagery.

BIG WEEK(S) AHEAD?

North Korea details plans to dismantle nuclear test site this month

North Korea outlined steps Saturday to dismantle its nuclear testing site – and confirmed that international journalists, including from the United States and the United Kingdom, would be invited to watch this month as its tunnels are blown up.

The announcement, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as reported by state news agency KCNA, came a day after Pyongyang pledged no longer to carry out unannounced missile tests or other activities that put flights at risk, according to a United Nations aviation agency.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un previously had announced the conclusion of North Korea's nuclear testing program and the intended shuttering of the Punggye-ri complex. He said on April 20 that his nation already had "completed its mission" to test its weapons capability.

The statement Saturday gave greater details of the "technical measures" North Korea would take to dismantle the test site and "ensure transparency of discontinuance of the nuclear test."