Foreign media head to N. Korea to see nuclear site destruction

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 22 May 2018

Foreign journalists visited North Korea to observe the demolition of the Punggye-ri nuclear testing site. This move is viewed as a goodwill gesture ahead of an upcoming summit with the United States.

Summary

Foreign journalists headed to North Korea on Tuesday to watch the promised destruction of its nuclear test site, a move seen as a goodwill gesture before a planned summit with the United States.

Reporters from China, the US and Russia departed on a charter flight from Beijing, according to Chinese state broadcaster CGTN which is part of the contingent.

The group will cover the demolition of the Punggye-ri nuclear testing site inside a mountain in the northeast of the country, which is scheduled to take place between Wednesday and Friday, depending on the weather.

Agence France-Presse is one of many major media organizations not invited to cover the event.

Pyongyang announced earlier this month that it planned to "completely" destroy the facility by blowing up the test site's access tunnels, a move welcomed by Washington and Seoul.

The decision came after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared the country's nuclear force complete and said it had no further need for the complex.

Experts are divided over whether the move will render the site useless - previous similar gestures have been rapidly reversed when the international mood soured. - AFP