N. Korea, U.S. agree to complete nuclear inspections by 2020

North Korea and the Unite States have confirmed that North Korea will strengthen verification of nuclear facilities and the scrapping of its existing nuclear weapons at the upcoming bilateral summit and are discussing specific approaches of the inspection. North Korea has also expressed intention to accept special inspections by the IAEA.

According to intelligence sources on Thursday, both countries have utilized unofficial channels to discuss how the verification of denuclearization would take place. Earlier last month, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited North Korea as special envoy to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jung-un and agree on principle on the need for verification of nuclear facilities and weapons. Both sides are working on the details on how it would be implemented.

As news became known that there are up to 10,000 underground nuclear facilities in North Korea, the country announced that it would be willing to transparently disclose its nuclear material and weapons to the international community. “North Korea has been known to tentatively agree to demands for special inspections,” said a key intelligence source.


Jin-Woo Shin niceshin@donga.com · Gi-Jae Han record@donga.com