S. Korean journalists set to visit nuclear test site aboard special plane

By Lim Chang-won Posted : May 23, 2018, 11:37 Updated : May 23, 2018, 16:06

[38 North / Yonhap Photo]


SEOUL -- South Korean journalists flew across the inter-Koran border to participate in a showcase event for the dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear test site that would mark the start of denuclearization ahead of a historic summit between North Korean and U.S. leaders.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed to shut down the Punggye-ri test site at his summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on April 27. Pyongyang has promised to invite foreign journalists who would witness dismantlement.

On Wednesday, Pyongyang accepted the list of eight South Korean pool reporters, the South's unification ministry said.  A special plane carried them from an airport near Seoul to the northeastern port city of Wonsan through a direct inter-Korean flight route.

The demolition event would happen between Wednesday and Friday. Journalists from other countries headed from Beijing to Wonsan on Tuesday aboard a North Korean Air Koryo plane. They are set to travel by train from Wonsan to the test site.

The North had declined to accept the list of South Korean reporters without providing any reason or explanation since it suspended scheduled inter-Korean rapprochement talks on May 16 in protest at Max Thunder, a joint exercise involving U.S. and South Korean warplanes.

At the North's test site, a probable observation platform or viewing stand is near completion to allow journalists to safely view the explosive closure of tunnels used for underground tests, according to 38 North, the website of a U.S. research institute.

"Additional improvements were also made to the road and pathway leading up to that probable observation platform," 38 North said, adding a separate, less elaborate observation position was placed on a hillside, providing a clear view of that area, particularly after the recent clearing of some trees.

 
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