North Korea details plans to dismantle nuclear test site

[DonViejo]

Source: Reuters



MAY 12, 2018 / 9:35 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO

Christine Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has scheduled the dismantlement of its nuclear test site for sometime between May 23 and 25 depending on weather conditions in order to uphold its previous pledge to discontinue nuclear tests, state media reported on Saturday.

The country’s central news agency said the dismantlement of the nuclear test ground would involve collapsing all of its tunnels with explosions, blocking its entrances and removing all observation facilities, research buildings and security posts.

“The Nuclear Weapon Institute and other concerned institutions are taking technical measures for dismantling the northern nuclear test ground of the DPRK in order to ensure transparency of discontinuance of the nuclear test,” said the announcement. DPRK is an acronym for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The announcement comes after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would hold a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12. It will be the first meeting ever between a sitting U.S. president and the leader of North Korea.




Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles/north-korea-to-dismantle-nuclear-test-site-may-23-25-state-media-idUSKCN1ID0H5

[shanny]

1. Pretty easy to "dismantle" something that has already collapsed.

tRump will take a victory lap of course.

[Flaleftist]

3. Yup.

The real question is will they hand over all of the nukes they have already built along with all of their enriched uranium. I'm skeptical.

[cstanleytech]

9. Thats assuming they have or ever had any in the first place as my money is still on Russia

being their supplier.

[7962]

5. Isnt that convenient?? "Its trashed, therefore we have decided not to use it any more". nt

[cos dem]

2. I'm sure they also provided details on their new test site, right?

[RKP5637]

4. There is something really strange about this entire affair! n/t

[Plucketeer]

6. LOL! To the MAX!

This just REEKS of phony. Trump will revel in the glow of "ending" a 65-year old conflict as if he's some savvy businessman. I just KNOW we're gonna be UN-happy in the end.

[Crash2Parties]

11. NK's leader is like a Trump twin

If they ever had an actual nuke program of their own (I spent far too much time and effort searching for any sign that anyone had detected increased radiation readings after the tests & or site collapse and found nothing), it was destroyed when the mountain complex collapsed. When that happened, UN suddenly had no hand left to play b/c (wait for it) he's no more of a "deal maker" than Trump.

[Bengus81]

14. Yep this reeks.........

Funny how just a few months ago Dotard and Missile man were having it out on a daily basis, both ready to push a button. Now it's all nicey nice and flowers.

How much CASH did Trump send Kim's way and/or "other" things?? WHY would someone like Kim give up a HUGE bargaining chip like three hostages BEFORE Trump arrives to talk and negotiate??

This SMELLS............

[liberal_patriot_md]

7. So....

They know Trump’s game. Headline grabbing announcement that after further analysis is essentially meaningless.

Considering they have functional nuclear weapons they don’t need a test site anymore do they? The US hasn’t done a test since 1992 - and no one questions our capabilities do they?

When are they dismantling their devices and ICBMs? Accounting for and turning over all their nuclear material?

On another note, given that Iran actually never got as far in their program and did dismantle and turn over material while submitting to inspection - why are they being punished while NK is celebrated?

[Hoyt]

8. I bet they've worked out details of an agreement already. trumps visit

will just be a publicity stunt.

I also bet we will bash the agreement just like GOPers bashed Iran deal.

[GeorgeGist]

10. Kim Jong Un ...

must read The Onion.

[NurseJackie]

12. 1) It's already useless. 2) They already have nuclear devices.

3) This is a meaningless gesture that Trump will fall for. It plays right into his vanity.

[RKP5637]

15. Yep!!! The they have the devices, tested, could make more, and they know they work. They

will play tRump to the hilt. Kim, is far more clever and smart that tRump ever hoped to be. Trump is a sucker because of his vanity.

[SunSeeker]

13. OFFS. It's ALREADY "dismantled." It fucking imploded.

[OliverQ]

16. I see tons of people praising Trump for this, despite him having nothing to do with it.

Sadly, I think this spectacle is going to boost his approval a lot and may allow him to win again in 2020.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

17. Testing weapons and manufacturing them are two different things.

If Kim's scientists and engineers have the information they need from the tests, and they tested an operating device before the facility collapsed, what's left is to manufacture as many weapons as they have material for.

Trump will conflate nuclear testing and stockpiling weapons, and claim that he's responsible for "denuclearizing" North Korea when Kim's still sitting on a stockpile of weapons. It doesn't make any sense for NK to work so hard for so many years to suddenly give up their primary goal in the world -- to be taken seriously as a nuclear power.

Trump wants his Nobel Prize because, as he says, "Everybody thinks I deserve one." Also because Obama has one.

If he does get a medal I will have lost all trust in an organization I have respected my entire life. If he does get a Peace Prize (pardon me while I wretch) Trump's supporters will lobby to have Obama's Nobel Prize rescinded.

[Jim__]

18. Radar reveals details of mountain collapse after North Korea's most recent nuclear test

This is what they're dismantling? The Donald may be getting played.

From phys.org:

As North Korea's president pledges to "denuclearize" the Korean peninsula, an international team of scientists is publishing the most detailed view yet of the site of the country's latest and largest underground nuclear test on Sept. 3, 2017.

The new picture of how the explosion altered the mountain above the detonation highlights the importance of using satellite radar imaging, called SAR (synthetic aperture radar), in addition to seismic recordings to more precisely monitor the location and yield of nuclear tests in North Korea and around the world.

The researchers—Teng Wang, Qibin Shi, Shengji Wei and Sylvain Barbot from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, Douglas Dreger and Roland Bürgmann from the University of California, Berkeley, Mehdi Nikkhoo from the German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam, Mahdi Motagh from the Leibniz Universität Hannover, and Qi-Fu Chen from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing—will report their results online this week in advance of publication in the journal Science.

That explosion took place under Mt. Mantap at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in the country's north, rocking the area like a 5.2-magnitude earthquake. Based on seismic recordings from global and regional networks, and before-and-after radar measurements of the ground surface from Germany's TerraSAR-X and Japan's ALOS-2 radar imaging satellites, the team showed that the underground nuclear blast pushed the surface of Mt. Mantap outward by as much as 11 feet (3.5 meters) and left the mountain about 20 inches (0.5 meters) shorter.

more ...

[bronxiteforever]

19. Wow thanks for posting this!

Wonder how many scientists bit the dust inside the mountain?

[TomCADem]

20. Basically, North Korea Will Keep its Nukes and Missiles...

...all the U.S. really gets are three hostages and a temporary halt to missile tests. North Korea will continue to build up its nuclear arsenal and the halt to tests is just a spectacle, because even the U.S. does not conduct nuclear tests anymore.

North Korea is going to get a draw down on U.S. forces in South Korea, some roll back in sanctions, as well as more solidarity with China and South Korea. So, North Korea gets more out of the deal with the U.S. ending up more isolated.

Basically, North Korea and China ended up playing Trump by playing to his ego.