Last week’s assessment also stated that the stand “can be reconstituted within months,” a U.S. government source told The Diplomat, underlining that, for now, the changes North Korea had made would be reversible.
“The engine test stand tear down does not severely impact North Korea’s liquid fuel engine development,” the source added, highlighting that the facility was no longer critical for the mass production of ballistic missiles in North Korea.
“We‘re all pursuing the denuclearization of North Korea and a new future of prosperity, security and peace on the Korean Peninsula and all of Asia,“ Trump told a VFW convention in Kansas City, Missouri. “New images just today show that North Korea has begun the process of dismantling a key missile site and we appreciate that. We had a fantastic meeting with Chairman Kim, and it seems to be going very well.“
In an important first step towards fulfilling a commitment made by Kim Jong Un at the June 12 Singapore Summit, new commercial satellite imagery of the Sohae Satellite Launching Station (North Korea’s main satellite launch facility since 2012) indicates that the North has begun dismantling key facilities.
„She wants to see what‘s real,“ said the first lady‘s spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham told CNN during a 10-minute press briefing en route to Texas. „She wanted to see as close to what she had been seeing on TV. She wants to see a realistic view of what‘s happening.“