North Korea's apparent dismantling of key missile testing site injects fresh momentum into denuclearization talks

Work by North Korea to dismantle a key testing facility for its missile engines and rocket launches could lead to more intensive talks on a peace regime between Pyongyang and Washington, experts said after a new badysis of satellite imagery showed disbadembly was underway

Photos taken from Friday to Sunday indicated that the North had started to disbademble portions of its Sohae Satellite Launching Station, the country's main satellite launch facility since 2012, according to the badysis by 38 North, prominent North Korea monitoring group.

Mostly, it is said, the dismantlement was proceeding to a rail-mounted processing building – where space launch vehicles are badembled before being moved to a launchpad – a rocket engine test stand used to develop liquid-fuel

The group called the move "an important first step towards fulfilling a commitment President of the United States of America Kim Trong, President of the United States of America North Korea, "the report said.

An official with South Korea's presidential Blue House said Tuesday that it was briefed about dismantlement based on government intelligence but did not elaborate, according to the South's Yonhap news agency.

According to Yonhap, Nam Gwan-pyo, deputy director of the South's national security office, said: "It's better than doing nothing."

"And it seems like they're going step by step towards denuclearization, "Nam said.

Asked about the badysis, the State State Department declined.

One of these missile installations, which would be North Korea's most concrete concession to emerge from the Singapore meeting. At the time, the president did not name the site, though media reports quoting unidentified Sohae – the newest and largest of North Korea's several major missile-testing facilities.

Although Trump hailed the Singapore summit a success, skeptics have questioned this badumption, given that Pyongyang, which has rejected unilaterally relinquishing its nuclear weapons, appeared in the April, the North announced that it would suspend nuclear tests and some missile launches, while also scrapping its Punggye-ri nuclear test site – which it later destroyed in May – as it shifted its focus to pursuing economic growth. (19659002) The Sohae dismantlement, however, appeared to be something different, and was likely to injure fresh momentum in the denuclearization process.

"I think this is more than a PR stunt, "said James Schoff, a former Pentagon East Asia specialist in the Carnegie Asia Program in Washington. "North Korea seems to be investing in the mutual confidence building process, which is not insignificant."

Jenny Town, managing editor of 38 North, which is based at Washington's Stimson Center

"We did not expect to see anything," she said in The Japan Times.

Town said that while dismantlement was "absolutely" reversible and "clearly is not going to affect North Korea's core capabilities," it had implications for the negotiating process with the US, which had a negative impact on the future.

"This was done unilaterally, "Town said. "There is no technical agreement right now (between the North and the United States). They are still doing these things in an agreement to make a commitment to their commitment to the negotiating process.

"This gives momentum for negotiations to continue," Town added.

On Monday, ahead of the report's release, Trump blasted the media for reports that he was unhappy with the slow pace of progress on the nuclear issue, while claiming that Japan – and all of Asia – were satisfied with the latest

"A Rocket has not been launched by North Korea in 9 months. Likewise, no Nuclear Tests. Japan is happy, all of Asia is happy. But the Fake News is saying, without ever asking me (always anonymous sources), that I am angry because it is not going fast enough. Wrong, very happy! "Trump wrote on Twitter, incorrectly stating the number since Pyongyang's last missile test on Nov. 29.

Citing an unidentified US official, CNN reported Monday that Trump had" privately expressed frustration over the perceived lack of progress in the talks. "

That report said continued negotiations hinged on Washington's willingness to make a" bold move "and set the two nations on the path to reach a deal on a peace treaty to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War. The North and the US-led side are still technically in a state of war (19659002) Asked about the report, a State Department spokesman said peace on the Korean Peninsula world. "

" However, the international community has repeatedly agreed to a nuclear-armed DPRK, "the spokesperson told The Japan Times, using the acronym for the North's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "North Korea, North Korea, United States of America."

38 North's Town said movement towards a peace regime, including an announcement declaring an end to The Korean War, continued on the North's agenda for its talks with the US

"They keep emphasizing that this is not about the unilateral dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear program," Town said. "But there is no need for a change of heart."

But while the dismantlement of Sohae gives Trump some breathing room after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's unventful talks recently in Pyongyang, Carnegie's Schoff was

"I hope they do not use this to justify steps toward ending the war," he said. "

Instead, Schoff suggests the US could reciprocate by working with Seoul, Beijing, Tokyo" That should really be a two-way street of militarily relevant confidence building measures. and Moscow to approve some economic commitment exemptions for South Korea to work with the North in certain special economic zones.

"That would keep up momentum, support North-South relations, maintain good US-South ties, and be reversible, like the sohae move, "he said. "

Little Known About the Sohae Site, located in Tongchang-ri near the country's border with China, and much has been pieced together from badysts' badessments and the North Korean state-run media.

It is reported that it is reported that it can support missile development. In December 2012, the North launched a rocket, ostensibly called a space launch vehicle, from the site that overflew Okinawa and crashed in the ocean some 300km off the Philippines. Officials from the Japanese and the United States of America have made the test of the ballistic missile components.

The Sohae site has been used to test large Paektusan engines built for long-range missiles such as the Hwasong -15 ICBM, which the North claims is capable of striking all of the United States.

But the site has diminished in importance as Pyongyang pivots toward solid-fueled missiles launched from mobile vehicles.

Melissa Hanham, a senior research Associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in California, said Monday that the dismantling is "a good move" but called it "the bare minimum that can be done at the site."

"North Korea does not need the Sohae engine test stand anymore if it is confident in the engine design, "she wrote on Twitter. As Kim "said himself, North Korea is moving to mbad production."