North Korea’s Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site, where North Korea has conducted six acknowledged underground detonations is still, as far as we can tell, fully operational. Following Pyongyang’s sixth nuclear test in September 2017, one area at the site—the North Portal, located at Mount Mantap where the last five underground nuclear tests had been conducted—was apparently abandoned. However, significant new tunneling was noted at the West Portal, another area of the site, up through early March 2018. That renewed tunneling was curtailed by mid-March, but not entirely stopped through early April, suggesting that either the tunnel was complete and ready for future renewed testing or that the slowdown simply mirrored the ongoing political changes underway.
Another potential test tunnel, accessible via the South Portal, includes a primary and secondary entrance.
Source: November 2, 2015; Google Earth
In short, there is no basis to conclude that the Punggye-ri nuclear
test site is no longer viable for future nuclear testing. There remain
two portal areas located in more pristine competent rock that can be
used for future tests if Pyongyang were to give the order. Whether that
will stay an option will depend on reaching verifiable agreements that
build on Pyongyang’s pledge to shut down the facility.*
Notes
[1] This
announcement has come after several weeks of political outreach and high
level official dialogue between North Korea and South Korea, China and
the US, with the latter having reportedly included a direct meeting in Pyongyang between Kim Jong Un and the US acting Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo,
at the beginning of April. See “North Korea: CIA boss in secret talks
with Kim Jong-un ahead of possible summit with Donald Trump,” ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), April 18, 2018, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-18/trump-says-us-having-direct-talks-with-north-korea-about-summit/9670084.
[2] The reporting also stated that “The
suspension of nuclear testing is an important process for global
disarmament, and the DPRK will join international efforts and efforts to
halt the nuclear test altogether,” which would seem to offer
possible future outreach to both the IAEA and CTBTO. Ankit Panda,
Twitter Post. April 20, 2018, 6:18 pm, https://mobile.twitter.com/nktpnd/status/987455582809534464.
The original source of this article is 38 North
