Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Saturday, April 28, 2018

BREAKING AND UPDATE: North Korea nuclear test site to close in May


This DigitalGlobe satellite image of the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Facility in North Korea was taken February 11, 2013.Image copyrightREUTERS
Image captionA satellite image of the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in North Korea
by Coco Jiang and Biodun Iginla, BBC News, Pyongyang. Coco Jiang is working undercover in Pyongyang.
North Korea's nuclear test site will close in May.
A spokesman said the closure of the Punggye-ri site would be done in public and foreign experts from South Korea and the US would be invited to watch.
On Friday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korea's President Moon Jae-in agreed to work to rid the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons.
Their summit came after months of warlike rhetoric from the North.

What did South Korea say?

Presidential spokesman Yoon Young-chan said that Mr Kim had stated he "would carry out the closing of the nuclear test site in May".
Mr Yoon added that the North Korean leader had also said he "would soon invite experts of South Korea and the US to disclose the process to the international community with transparency".
The office also said North Korea would change its time zone - currently half an hour different - to match that of the South.
North Korea has so far made no public comments on the issue.

What is known about the test site?

Situated in mountainous terrain in the north-east, it is thought to be the North's main nuclear facility.
The nuclear tests have taken place in a system of tunnels dug below Mount Mantap, near the Punggye-ri site.
Six nuclear tests have been carried out there since 2006.
The information about has been gathered mainly from satellite imagery and tracking the movement of equipment at the location.

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