US President Donald Trump said after this month’s historic summit with Kim Jong-un the North was already destroying a "major missile engine testing site," expected to be dismantled "very soon."
North Korea made rapid progress in nuclear research last year, conducting its strongest atomic test to date and testing a series of ICBMs. After a flurry of diplomacy culminating in a June 12 summit, Pyongyang agreed to back down and denuclearize.
Earlier, South Korean media reported that Pyongyan has hundreds of facilities related to missile and nuclear activity. Particularly, the US authorities have reportedly detected up to 3,000 nuclear-related facilities in North Korea, which could mean that the inspection of the sites and US-N.Korean talks on denuclearization will take considerable time.
Earlier this year, North Korean leader said he was ready to denuclearize and signed a corresponding agreement with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the inter-Korean summit in the truce village of Panmunjom in April.
In May, Pyongyang, in a gesture of goodwill, blew up three test mines at the Punggye-ri nuclear site, as well as destroyed security checkpoints and other facilities.