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| A controlled detonation destroys North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear test site, Thursday. / Press Pool |
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| Foreign journalists watch the dismantling of North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear test site. / Press Pool |
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| / Press Pool |
By Kim Bo-eun, Joint Press Corps
North Korea dismantled its Punggye-ri nuclear testing site, Thursday, in what it claims was its first step toward denuclearization.
A media group invited from South Korea, the United States, the United Kingdom, China and Russia observed the destruction of the site surrounded by the Mount Mantap range in the northeastern part of the country.
Three of the four tunnels at the site were blown up. The remaining one is deemed impossible for use. Other establishments including observatories, staff accommodation and military facilities were also destroyed.
"The northern nuclear test site was completely shut down to transparently show the country's suspension of nuclear tests," the North's nuclear arms research institute said in a statement.
"The suspension of nuclear tests is an important process for global nuclear disarmament," the statement added, saying Pyongyang will make efforts to achieve a "peaceful world without nuclear weapons."
"The government evaluates the nuclear test site shutdown as a meaningful first step that shows North Korea's determination to put complete denuclearization into action," South Korea's foreign ministry spokesman Noh Kyu-duk said.
He added the government will assist the successful holding of the North Korea-U.S. summit next month, and make efforts for complete denuclearization and a lasting peace to be achieved on the peninsula, as stated in the Panmunjeom Declaration reached at an inter-Korean summit last month.
The first explosion at 11 a.m. produced a thundering boom that shook Mount Mantap, standing 2,205 meters above sea level, spewing soil and smashed pieces of rocks. Dark smoke blanketed the valley, and when it cleared, debris covered the site.
Among the four tunnels at the site, the first is where North Korea conducted its first nuclear test in 2006. It had been abandoned due to radioactive contamination. The second is where five subsequent tests took place from 2009 to 2017. Tunnels three and four had not been used.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un earlier stressed that "the Punggye-ri site shutdown involves not only tunnels that cannot be used any longer, but also two more tunnels that are larger than those and are in good condition."
The complete destruction of tunnels three and four were seen as key to the shutdown. An observatory for reporters had been set up between the two, according to reports.
It is presumed the tunnels were blown up by creating holes in the bedrock and inserting explosives, as this method minimizes external shock.
This is considered the most appropriate method as the site is suffering "tired mountain syndrome" from the heat and shockwaves of the six underground nuclear tests.
On May 12, North Korea's foreign ministry stated that it would "blow up all of the site's tunnels, close down their entrances and then dismantle observatory, research and security facilities."
It added that with the site's shutdown, security and research personnel will leave.
The shutdown was conducted despite uncertainty prevailing over the North's talks with the U.S. on denuclearization.
A summit between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump has been arranged to take place June 12, but a cloud has been cast over the meeting after Pyongyang took issue with the Max Thunder air force exercises between Seoul and Washington that ended today. North Korea said it regards the drills as a threat to the country's security and threatened to cancel the summit.
Trump on the sidelines of a meeting with President Moon Jae-in this week stated the summit could be pushed back.
Pyongyang is protesting the support of some in the Trump administration for the Libyan model of denuclearization, in which rewards were provided after complete nuclear disarmament.
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