North Korea says it will hold “ceremony” for dismantling nuke test site

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea says it will hold a “ceremony” for the dismantling of its nuclear test site on May 23-25 in what would be a dramatic but symbolic event to set up leader Kim Jong Un’s summit with President Donald Trump next month. North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Saturday that all of the tunnels at the country’s northeastern testing ground will be destroyed by explosion, and that observation and research facilities and ground-based guard units will also be removed.

The North said it plans to invite journalists from the United States, South Korea, China, Russia and Britain to inspect the process.

Kim had revealed plans to shut down the nuclear test site during his summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in last month. Last week, U.S. intelligence said the North Koreans had started pulling cables from the tunnels at their nuclear test site — a first step toward closing them down, CBS News’ national security correspondent David Martin reported. 

President Trump tweeted Thursday that his “highly-anticipated” meeting with Kim will take place in Singapore on June 12. “We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!” he tweeted. The president’s news came hours after he welcomed home three detained Americans following their release by North Korea. The three men, Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak Song and Tony Kim, were released during a visit on Tuesday by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Pompeo said Friday the United States aspires to have North Korea as a “close partner” and not an enemy, noting that the U.S. has often in history become good friends with former adversaries. Pompeo said he told Kim of that hope during his brief visit to Pyongyang, where he also he finalized details of the upcoming summit.

Pompeo also said his talks with Kim on Wednesday were “warm,” ”constructive,” and “good” — and that he made clear that if North Korea gets rid of its nuclear weapons in a permanent and verifiable way, the U.S. is willing to help the impoverished nation boost its economy and living stands to levels like those in prosperous South Korea.

“We had good conversations about the histories of our two nations, the challenges that we have had between us,” Pompeo told reporters at a news conference with South Korea’s visiting foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha Friday. “We talked about the fact that America has often in history had adversaries who we are now close partners with and our hope that we could achieve the same with respect to North Korea.”

He did not mention other adversaries by name, but Pompeo and others have often noted that the U.S. played a major role in rebuilding Japan and the European axis powers in the wake of the Second World War. With U.S. help, those countries recovered from the devastation of conflict. 

“If North Korea takes bold action to quickly denuclearize, the United States is prepared to work with North Korea to achieve prosperity on the par with our South Korean friends,” he said.   

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.