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John Bolton
SEOUL / WASHINGTON: White House national security adviser John Bolton said on Sunday he believed the bulk of North Korea's weapons programs could be dismantled within a year, as the United States and North Korea resumed working -level talks.
Bolton told CBS's 'Face the Nation' that Washington has devised a program to dismantle North Korea's weapons of mass destruction – chemical, biological and nuclear-and-ballistic missile programs in a year, if there is full cooperation
"If they have the strategic decision already made to do that and they're cooperative, we can move very quickly," he said. "
He said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will likely discuss the proposal with the North Koreans soon. The Financial Times reported that Pompeo was due to visit North Korea this week …
Combination of satellite images taken on April 1 (top), and June 29 show development at a North Korea missile production facility in the city of Hamhung. – Reuters photo
South Korea media reported on Sunday that Sung Kim, the US ambassador to the Philippines, puts on the North Korean officials on Sunday at the border village of Panmunjom within the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas to coordinate an agenda for Pompeo's next visit to North Korea.
Kim's delegation delivers Pompeo's letter to Kim Yong Chol, a top Pyongyang official who puts Pompeo and US President Donald Trump ahead of last month's historic summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore, Yonhap news agency said, citing an unnamed diplomatic source.
Some experts disputed Bolton's optimistic time frame for decommissioning the North's weapons.
"It would be possible to dismantle the bulk of North Korea's programs within a year," said Thomas Countryman, the State Department's top arms control officer under President Barack Obama.
"I do not believe it would be possible t "North Korea is completing a major expansion of a key missile-manufacturing plant," Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. , citing researchers who have examined new satellite imagery from San Francisco-based Planet Labs Inc.
Images analyzed by the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, California North Korea was finishing construction on the exterior of the plant Kim The Chemical Material Institute in Hamhung Makes a Solid-Fuel Ballistic Missile, which could allow a more rapid missile-to-liquidation missile, compared to a liquid-fuel
Last week, 38 North, a website run by the Johns Hopkins University, said satellite imagery showed the North had been upgrading its Yongbyon nuclear complex.
"None of this activity technically violated any agreement" May 1965, "said Vipin Narang, associate professor at MIT's security studies program.
" What it suggests is that Kim has no intention of surrendering his nuclear weapons. "
Kim agreed at the June 12 summit to" work towards the nucleation of the Korean Peninsula, "but the joint statement released after the meeting gave no details on how or when Pyongyang might forsake its nuclear and missile programs.
As negotiations progresses, the North could try to trade sites and technology that has relatively low values in exchange for sanctions relief, while the covertly operating facilities required to advance key capabilities, Narang said.
"It is perfectly rational for North Korea to shift the focus to developing solid fuel missiles now that it already has a suite of liquid fuel missiles to deter an attack, "he said.
Siegfried He cker, a nuclear scientist and Stanford University professor, North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear site.
US intelligence is not certain how many nuclear warheads North Korea has. The Defense Intelligence Agency is at the end of an estimate of about 50, but all the agencies believe in Pyongyang. – Reuters
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