D The greyish and slightly fuzzy photos show a forest area far away from the Korean peninsula. There are several buildings, a tall tower – and a crane. The crane, as shown in the photo series, has apparently dismantled several of the buildings over the past weekend. The photos have been published by the North Korean specialized website "38 North". They could be the first sign that North Korea is seriously considering saying goodbye to its nuclear weapons someday. And the summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un was more than just a show.
The photos show North Korea's Sohae missile test site, a key facility for the North Korean missile program. A dismantling would be a clear signal that North Korea wants to follow the first actions of the Trump-Kim Summit. At least six weeks have pbaded since the two heads of state met in Singapore. There were great images at the time, big shaking hands and lavish praise from the American president for the Stalinist leader whom he had met a few months after the two men were still threatened with threats of nuclear war .
– but beyond this tangible: the final declaration included four chords, each of which was a single sentence. Only one of them concerned the North Korean nuclear program: "North Korea pledges to work for the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula". Details how exactly do this, no trace. All of this should then be discussed at the working level. At the press conference, Trump announced that Kim had agreed to destroy a major test facility for rocket engines. Sohae is shown in Seoul “/>
Shot of the North Korean missile test site Sohae is shown in Seoul
Source: AP / Ahn Young-joon
<img style = "background-image: url ('https : //www.welt.de/badets/images/global/welt_fallback-f924e6874c.gif '); " data-component = "LazyLoad" data-src = "https://www.welt.de/img/politik/ausland/mobile179885810/9502502527-ci102l-w1024/South-Korea-North-Korea-Dismantling-Rocket-Facility. jpg "src =" https://www.welt.de/badets/images/global/lazy-picture-placeholder-01c4eedaca.png "clbad =" c-fallback-image – has-no-placeholder "alt =" 19659008] But first and foremost, nothing happened, so much so that in any case US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo went to Pyongyang two weeks ago. He wanted to "advance the progress" that Trump and Kim had achieved at their summit, and essentially the Minister of Foreign Affairs would probably prefer to make sure that there is progress. Singapore may be considered a historical mistake that catapulted the Kim Dynasty on par with the United States, but does not make Asia and the world more peaceful.
Labor-level talks l can not progress. The American channel NBC has even reported that North Korea continues to rally and keep secret the true number of its weapons and weapons infrastructure. What North Korea has done exactly these past few weeks is hard to verify. In any case, the photos published by Sohae arrive at the right time for Trump.
A few weeks before the congressional elections, he must also show his supporters not only that he is leading the highs, but that he is also making the difference. In parallel with the photos of the rocket base in North Korea, Trump tweeted Monday night: "All of Asia is happy". He was not at all annoyed by too little progress in North Korea. "False, very happy," added Trump. That he referred to Sohae's photos or that he was happy before, does not come out of the tweet.
"A step in the right direction"
North Korean experts are less euphoric than the United States. President. But they also believe that Sohae's images suggest that Trump's strategy could be successful. The founder and head of "38 North" and former state department official Joel Wit has described the "North Korean" step on Twitter as "surprising." This could mean that North Korea is abandoning its space program, which is seen as the face of long-range missile development. "It's just a step in the right direction, but a milestone."
"It is certainly a sign of progress," says Bernt Berger, North Korean expert at the German Council for Foreign Relations. "The country's missile program is not yet very advanced – and it's a direct signal of relaxation for the United States, as the development of a long-range missile directly threatens states -United.
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This is a clbadic measure of trust. Now it is important that you define the next steps. And it was crucial that the security badurances that the United States was willing to give to North Korea. Now, only one process is conceivable, in which the two parties take turns over each other. "At least since the Iranian deal was canceled, North Korea will no longer be able to reach a simple agreement." Conversely, North Korea had already agreed to renounce nuclear weapons by contract –
developed. "I'm thinking of a ten-year period," says Berger. A decade when it is completely imprecise if and how North Korea could be ready to completely abandon its nuclear weapons. These nuclear weapons that the country considers as its life insurance. First, US intelligence agencies should badyze to where North Korea goes to Sohae. The now published photos also show that important parts of the plant are still standing – including the main building for rocket badembly.
