A nuclear test site that North Korea destroyed last year is merely "weeks or months" away from being fully functional, should the leadership choose to restore it, South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Park Han-ki told lawmakers on Tuesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th October, 2019) A nuclear test site that North Korea destroyed last year is merely "weeks or months" away from being fully functional, should the leadership choose to restore it, South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Park Han-ki told lawmakers on Tuesday.North Korea demolished the Punggye-ri site in May of last year as a sign of commitment to denuclearization ahead of the first meeting between its leader, Kim Jong Un, and US President Donald Trump.
"Two of the four tunnels - the No. 3 and No. 4 ones - could be able to be used again after repair," Park told parliament before saying that "at least weeks or months will be necessary for their restoration," as quoted by Yonhap news Agency.
The general said that no moves toward restoration have been detected at the site.
Last week, North Korea tested a ballistic missile launched from a submarine that fell into the waters of Japan's exclusive economic zone. Some days later, North Korean negotiators in Sweden announced that denuclearization talks with the United States had broken down.
Little progress on denuclearization and renewed missile tests have resulted in renewed tensions surrounding the Korean Peninsula, months after Trump became the first sitting US president to step over the demilitarized zone into North Korea.
