North Korea’s pledge to scrap military sites

North Korea has agreed to abolish its missile engine testing facilities in the presence of international experts, and “expressed readiness” to close its main nuclear complex if the US takes “reciprocal action.” Speaking at a joint news conference in Pyongyang, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said they agreed to turn the Korean peninsula into a “land of peace without nuclear weapons and nuclear threats.”

Among the steps toward that goal, Kim pledged to shut down the Yongbyon Nuclear Complex which is home to a 5-megawatt reactor, centrifuges, uranium and plutonium used to build bombs, a radiochemical laboratory and nuclear fuel rod production facility. Kim also said he would abolish facilities at the Dongchang-ri rocket motor test centre which is also the launch pad for Hwasong- 15 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) which can reach the United States.

Guard posts and minefields in the demilitarised zone (DMZ) would be removed to transform the world’s most heavily fortified border into a no-weapons zone. Other joint projects include plans to reopen the Kaesong Industrial Complex and the construction of an inter-Korean railway, which Moon has publicly backed, and resuming tours to Mount Kumgang, a landmark considered sacred by many Koreans.

However, former U.S. Treasury official, William Newcomb, who is on the United Nations Security Council’s Panel of Experts on North Korea, has warned that joint economic projects with Pyongyang would need exemptions on sanctions from the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea. If South Korea does not ask for exemptions, Seoul could violate sanctions and fracture the U.S.-South Korean alliance. Sources: