North Korea to dismantle its nuclear test site in presence of foreign media

Continuing with its diplomatic opening, North Korea on Saturday, May 12, said it will start dismantling its Punggye-ri nuclear test site in less than two weeks in an event where foreign journalists will also be present.

North Korean state news agency KCNA reported that Pyongyang announced about its "technical measures" to carry out the dismantling process between May 23 and 25.

Recently, in the wake of North Korea's announcement that it would quit its nuclear tests and also shut the nuclear site, it was reported that the hermit kingdom's nuclear site might have partially collapsed last September, making it opt for peace with the international community.

The dismantling process will see ruining all tunnels using explosives and removal of all observation and research facilities and security posts.

Punggye-ri hosted all six of North Korea's nuclear tests, the latest of which happened last September and which Pyongyang defined as an H-bomb. However, it was yet to be verified by external observers.

Besides local journalists, media representatives from South Korea, the US, the UK, Russia and China will be allowed to witness the process to ensure the transparency although the number of media invitees was limited because of space constraint at the test side, North Korea's foreign ministry said in a statement, according to an AFP report.

North Korea has been in the middle of a series of diplomatic charm since the Winter Olympics in Peyongchang in South Korea in February this year. Kim has already visited China twice to meet its president Xi Jinping while Trump has sent Mike Pompeo, the current US secretary of state to meet him as many times as well. In between, Kim met South Korean President Moon Jae-in at a historic Korean summit at the border truce village of Punmunjeom on April 27 to pledge ending the Korean War soon and denuclearise the Korean Peninsula.