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North Korea has begun dismantling some facilities at its main satellite launching station, considered the testing ground for its intercontinental ballistic missiles, according to an expert badysis of images recent satellites.
38 North could mark a step forward after last month's historic summit between Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump, although some experts have questioned the importance of this gesture
After the At the summit, Trump had stated that the North Korean nuclear threat and his reports suggest that he is furious at the lack of any further progress on the issue of denuclearization.
His public statements remain optimistic, and the badysis of the 38 North came as the president himself declared how the talks were progressing with Pyongyang.
The website indicated that the imagery indicated that the North had begun demolishing a rocket engine test bench that had been used to test liquid fuel engines at its launch station. Sohae satellite.
Sohae, on the northwestern coast of North Korea, is ostensibly designed to put satellites into orbit The international community has called the Pyongyang space program a "grape leaf for gun testing"
38. Northern badyst, Joseph Bermudez, described this gesture as "an important first step" for Kim in fulfilling a promise that Trump has The North Korean leader made at his summit of June in Singapore
Since Sohae "would have played an important role in the development of technologies for the northern intercontinental ballistic missile program, these efforts represent a significant measure of confidence Bermudez said:
Trump said in Singapore that Kim was committed to destroying a "large" missile engine test site, without specifying the site.
"Bare minimum"
Sohae a has been the main rocket launch site in the North since 2012, and South Korea – whose president negotiated the historic summit between Trump and Kim – called a step towards denuclearization
"C & # 39; is a better sign than doing nothing, "said the press Nam Gwan-pyo, deputy director of the presidential national security office. "I believe that they are progressing step by step towards denuclearization."
But some experts cautioned against over-reading the work described in the North 38 badysis.
Melissa Hanham, Principal Investigator at the James Martin Center for Non-Proliferation Studies in Monterey indicated that the dismantling of the engine test site was a "good move", but that it constituted "the bare minimum" in Sohae.
"Unless they dismantle the entire site, they will remain" North Korea no longer needs the Sohae engine test bed if it is confident in engine design As said (Kim Jong Un), North Korea is going from mbad production trials, "she said, adding that observers should look for signs of new sites where more missiles could be built. "
A US defense official also denounced the information, claiming that the Sohae site was not a safety priority. denuclearization of the North. "With regard to Washington's impatience with what it regards as North Korea's troll on the issue of denuclearization, the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was in New York for the last time. China and Russia have argued that North Korea should be rewarded with the prospect of lighter sanctions for opening the dialogue with the United States and stopping negotiations with the United States. missile tests. South Korea has also made progress in reconciling with the North since an inter-Korean summit in April.
The Seoul Defense Ministry said on Tuesday it was considering removing some troops from the demilitarized border zone.
The 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, leaving the two Koreans technically at war. The demilitarized zone has been designated a buffer zone, but the northern and southern zones are heavily fortified.
At their April summit, Kim and the South's president, Moon Jae-in, agreed to cease all hostile acts and a "zone of peace".
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