Dismantlement Confirmation

[Anchor Lead]

The U.S. State Department says that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was told by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that he had invited international inspectors to check the North's nuclear test site in Punggyeri. The State Department added that Pompeo also discussed a second North Korea-U.S. summit.

[Pkg]

Until recently, many in the U.S. demanded that North Korea take tangible denuclearization measures such as the disclosure of the list of its nuclear arsenal and international inspections. The North's dismantlement of its nuclear test site in Punggyeri without atomic inspectors back in May also raised eyebrows in the U.S. But recently the U.S. State Department has announced that during Mike Pompeo's fourth visit to Pyongyang, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un invited inspectors to check the irreversible dismantlement of the Punggueri nuclear test site. The State Department added that Pompeo and Kim have discussed four stipulations of the Singapore Summit. This suggests that the two sides had detailed discussions of denuclearization and improvement in bilateral relations.

[Soundbite] Mike Pompeo(U.S. Sec. of State) : "and what we all hope will be denuclearization that will change the relationship and the peninsula."

The two sides have also instructed their respective working-level teams to meet in the near future to discuss the matters further. The State Department said that the date and location of the second North Korea-U.S. summit were also discussed during Mike Pompeo's latest visit to Pyongyang. U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter that progress has been made on the Singapore agreement and that he hopes to meet with Kim Jong-un soon. The New York Times wrote that North Korean officials told Pompeo's entourage that they would like to see President Trump visiting Pyongyang for a second summit. Attention is now on steps that the North will take towards denuclearization and the corresponding measures by the U.S.