Foreign media starts marathon journey to North’s N-test facility

SEOUL, May 23 

International journalists left on a marathon journey to a North Korean nuclear test site on Wednesday, after Pyongyang belatedly cleared a number of South Korean media to witness what it says will be the.

Travel will involve an 11-hour train ride, a four-hour bus journey and then a hike of another hour, a reporter with Russia’s RT said on Twitter.

North Korea has suspended talks with the South and threatened to pull out of an upcoming summit between North leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump, but the invitation to media was seen as an indication that its unexpected offer to end its nuclear tests still held.

North Korea invited international media to observe the destruction with explosives of the Punggye-ri site, but not experts as initially promised, casting doubt over how verifiable the plan is and whether it will be safe.

It had also declined to take the South Korean reporters after calling off planned inter-Korean talks in protest against US-South Korean “Max Thunder” air combat drills.

North Korea has always justified its nuclear programme as a deterrent against perceived US hostility.

Reporters from news outlets from the other countries said on Twitter they arrived in the North Korean port city of Wonsan on Tuesday. The eight South Koreans arrived in Wonsan on Wednesday, where they were forced to leave their radiation detectors, satellite phones and Bluetooth mouses before they all set off for the test site, according to South Korean media pool reports.

North Korea had announced it would use explosives to close test tunnels, expected on Thursday or Friday. North Korea’s last-minute acceptance of South Korean reporters came amid concerns that Kim was starting to back away from his promise to scrap the nuclear programme. — Reuters

‘Bad deal’ with Pyongyang  not an option for US: Pompeo

• US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday the United States is prepared to walk away from negotiations with North Korea if upcoming talks on its nuclear weapons programme head in the wrong direction
• “A bad deal is not an option,” Pompeo said in his opening remarks for a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing. “The American people are counting on us to get this right. If the right deal is not on the table, we will respectfully walk away.”
• Pompeo said the US campaign, with partners, to pressure on Pyongyang was bearing fruit. “Our posture will not change until we see credible steps taken toward the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula,” he said
• During questioning, Pompeo said the United States had no intention of making concessions to Pyongyang in talks between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un scheduled for June 12 in Singapore

Korean talks likely to resume after May 25

• High-level intra-Korea talks will likely resume after Friday, once Max Thunder finishes, Moon’s media secretary Yoon Young-chan said
• A South Korean official said: “Given the North’s thinking and statements alike, we would be able to turn around the mood after the Max Thunder drills and restart dialogue” 
• North has rejected unilateral disarmament and given no indication that it is willing to go for the concept of universal denuclearisation