North Korea begins dismantling nuclear testing site, satellite photos show

The Punggye-ri site after the dismantlement
Airbus Defense and Space/38 North via AP
Lucia Binding15 May 2018

North Korea has begun dismantling facilities at its nuclear testing site, these satellite photos are said to reveal.

It is “the first definitive evidence that dismantlement of the rest site was already well underway”, according to a blog post by 38 North, a website run by former US diplomats.

The analysts said that the commercial imagery, taken on May 7, show that several support buildings have been demolished, railroads have been removed and mining carts overturned.

Excavation of a new tunnel also appears to have stopped in March.

How the Punggye-ri site looked before (Spot Image via AP)
Airbus Defense & Space/38 North/Pleiades CNES/Spot Image via AP

The destruction of the site was offered as an example of the Pyongyang regime’s commitment to disarming ahead of a historic meeting between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump next month.

The underground Punggye-ri site, which is situated in the northeast of the country deep within the mountains, was used for all of the North’s six nuclear tests.

Kim pledged to close the complex following his historic meeting with South Korean president Moon Jae-in and said they no longer needed the site.

Despite reports about the site being unstable, Kim allegedly dismissed the claims and said: “We have two more tunnels that are bigger than the existing ones and that they are in good condition”.

North Korea’s plan to close the site has been commended by Washington, Seoul and the UN secretary general.

Moon Jae-in praised the commitment during a meeting with his aides on Monday, stating: "This would be a preliminary step toward complete denuclearisation.”

The analysis suggests that work is underway on dismantling the site.

North Korea's Kim Jon Un meets South Korea's President Moon Jae-in

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It reads: "Imagery from May 7 shows that two key buildings (one likely an engineering office building, the other a compressor building) near the portal has been razed along with a shed that might have housed instrumentation equipment and one small outbuilding.”

"The rail lines for the mining carts have all apparently been removed and the previously noted train of mining carts appears to have been tipped over and/or disassembled on the spoil pile."

Meanwhile, a number of new structures could be designed to provide access and vantage points for the world’s press.

But no tunnel entrances at the test site appear to have been permanently closed as of yet.

The analysis concludes: "This may be because on May 12, the official Korean Central News Agency announced that the final dismantlement of the Punggye-ri nuclear test ground would be witnessed by foreign journalists and would involve the 'collapsing all of its tunnels with explosions, blocking its entrances, and removing all observation facilities, research buildings and security posts'”.

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