N. Korea conducts extensive publicity of dismantled nuclear test site

By Lim Chang-won Posted : May 25, 2018, 10:55 Updated : May 25, 2018, 10:55

[Joint Press Corps.]


SEOUL -- North Korea's state media was locked in a blaze of publicity Friday about the demolition of a nuclear test site, saying it made "positive" contribution to building a nuclear-free world, despite U.S. President Donald Trump's abrupt decision to cancel his planned summit with the North's leader.

In an event watched by international journalists on Thursday, North Korea blew up underground tunnels at the Punggye-ri test site in a mountainous region near the border with China as the first step toward complete denuclearization.

The high-profile event that followed the suspension of North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile tests was depreciated by the sudden cancellation of a historic summit next month between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

However, the closure of the site for six nuclear tests received prominent media coverage on Friday in North Korea. The demolition of tunnels and surrounding facilities, including a communications center, power systems and observation centers, was carried out "completely" and with transparency, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

"A work for collapsing all tunnels of the nuclear test ground by means of explosion, shutting down their entrances and exploding all the ground structures including the test observation centers was carried out in order with transparency," KCNA said.

The site was destroyed with a series of explosions over several hours that began at around 11 a.m. (0200 GMT) when North Korea dynamited the North Portal, also referred to as Tunnel No. 2, followed by the explosion of other tunnels, barracks, observation towers and other facilities. The show ended at 4:17 p.m. with plumes of smoke covering the mountain, according to South Korean pool reports.

In Friday's edition, state newspapers carried a statement from the Nuclear Weapons Institute of the DPRK (North Korea) that described the dismantlement of all the tunnels at the test site as an important process toward global nuclear disarmament.

"Dismantling the nuclear test ground was done in such a way as to make all the tunnels of the test ground collapse by explosion and completely close the tunnel entrances, and at the same time, explode some guard facilities and observation posts on the site," the institute said, insisting there were "neither leakage of radioactive materials nor any adverse impact" on the surrounding ecological environment.

"The discontinuance of the nuclear test is an important process moving towards global nuclear disarmament, and we will continue to join hands with the world peace-loving people in building a nuclear-free peaceful world, a new independent world where the dream and ideal of humanity are realized," it said.

 
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