 |
|
Location of Punggye Village nuclear test sites
|
Foreign ministry says press from South Korea, US, China, the UK and Russia allowed to witness detonation of tunnels at Punggye Village
On the evening of May 12, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry announced that the North would be detonating tunnels from May 23 to 25 to “completely close” the nuclear test site at Punggye Village, Kilju County, North Hamgyong Province, where it has conducted all six of its nuclear tests between 2006 and 2017, and that it would allow the press from South Korea, the US, China, the UK and Russia to be present. The story received heavy coverage on the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the Korean Central Broadcasting Station, Korean Central Television and the Rodong Sinmun from the evening of May 12 through May 13. The Foreign Ministry’s announcement detailed a timeline for the follow-up measures to the decision made during the 3rd Plenary Session of the 7th Central Committee of the Korean Workers’ Party (KWP), which was held on Apr. 20, to “suspend nuclear tests and ICBM test launches from Apr. 21 and to shut down the DPRK’s northern nuclear test site in order to guarantee the transparency of the suspension of nuclear tests.” This also makes official the plan to close the Punggye Village nuclear test site during May and allow experts and reporters from South Korea and the US to observe the shutdown, which North Korean leader Kim Jong-un explained to South Korean President Moon Jae-in during the inter-Korean summit at Panmunjeom on Apr. 27. At the time, Kim told President Moon he could share the plan with the outside world. Shutting down the nuclear test site is one of the key measures for preventing North Korea from building nuclear weapons in the future. Regular nuclear tests are essential for maintaining and improving a nuclear arsenal, and shutting down the test site removes the physical infrastructure needed for additional tests. This is also the first step toward “complete denuclearization” and a “nuclear-free Korean Peninsula” that appear in the Panmunjeom Declaration agreed to and announced by President Moon and Kim. North Korea appears to be taking this significant step to underline its sincerity and to allay doubts about its determination to denuclearize among conservatives in South Korea and the US. By first releasing three Americans whom it had long detained (on May 9) and now shutting down its nuclear test site, the North seems to be trying to move American public opinion toward North Korea in a more amiable direction in order to shore up US President Donald Trump’s domestic position prior to the first ever North Korea-US summit, which will be held in Singapore on June 12. Shortly after North Korea’s announcement, Trump expressed his joy on Twitter: “Thank you, a very smart and gracious gesture!” North Korea’s Foreign Ministry unveiled a detailed plan for shutting down the nuclear test site, which is scheduled to take place between May 23 and 25 “depending on the weather conditions.” The shutdown will involve the following phases: the tunnels at the nuclear test site will be detonated and destroyed and the entrance “completely closed”; all the observation equipment, laboratories and buildings for the security units on the surface will be demolished; and all the security and research staff will be removed to “completely close the area around the nuclear test site.” Only press from selected countries allowed North Korea also announced that this entire process would be open to the international media. One condition was that “the international team of reporters would be limited to reporters from China, Russia, the US, the UK and South Korea in light of the limited size of the nuclear test site.” The North further explained that it would allow private planes to shuttle international reporters from Beijing, China, to Wonsan, North Korea; that it would arrange a special train between Wonsan and Punggye Village; and that it would set up and operate lodgings and a press center for the reporters at Wonsan. While North Korea did not announce its criteria for selecting the countries included in the “international team of reporters,” the fact that Japan was omitted and the UK included is notable, given the fact that representatives from the countries participating in the Six-Party Talks were invited to attend the demolition and detonation of the cooling tower at the Yongbyon nuclear reactor in June 2008. The five countries include the four permanent members of the UN security Council (excluding France, which does not have diplomatic relations with North Korea) – all of which are “official nuclear weapon states” that manage the denuclearization regime – along with South Korea, which has been a partner in the trilateral cooperation with North Korea and the US that has been driving the rapid change on the Korean Peninsula in recent months. The fact that Japan was excluded also appears to reflect the ongoing jockeying between North Korea and Japan over the question of normalizing diplomatic relations and dealing with past conflicts, including reparations from Japan to North Korea for its colonial rule and the Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea. For now, it does not appear that the shutdown of the nuclear test site will be broadcast live. “After on-site reporting and filming of the shutdown of the nuclear test site [at Punggye Village], we will work with reporters to ensure the conditions are in place for transmitting this from the press center [at Wonsan],” North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in its announcement. The scene of the demolition of the Yongbyon cooling tower was also communicated to the outside world in the form of recorded footage. North Korea’s Foreign Ministry did not mention whether it would invite nuclear experts from international bodies such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). An official at the White House’s National Security Council said that the US is looking forward to learning more of the details. By Lee Je-hun, editor in chief, and Noh Ji-won, staff reporter Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
