In pursuance of a pledge he made to South Korea’s Moon Jae-In, and in advance of his summit with Donald Trump, Kim Jung-In is taking steps to shut down North Korea’s only known nuclear testing site, though that’s no proof of denuclearization.
Over the years peaceful gestures made by the North Korean regime with respect to its nuclear program have not been particularly reliable. As recently as 2012, Pyongyang pledged to place a moratorium on nuclear and missile testing in exchange for food aid. So the promises made by Kim Jong-un to South Korean president Moon Jae-in last month to initiate concrete steps toward denuclearization aren’t exactly carved in stone.
But one step that was discussed, the closure and demolition of North Korea’s nuclear testing site at Punggye-ri appears to be fully under way, according to satellite photographs. Here’s a report from The Guardian:
The images do not definitively show the sort of irreversible closure skeptics would hope for, as CNN reports, though that could be coming soon:
The significance of this particular testing site (used for all six of North Korea’s known nuclear tests) is subject to debate as well:
Still, verified action to redeem specific North Korean promises is a rare and positive thing, and part of what some have called a “charm offensive” by Kim Jong-un in advance of his June 12 meeting in Singapore with Donald Trump.
