SEOUL—North Korea says it has destroyed its nuclear test site, halted missile launches and returned U.S. war remains. The next move, Pyongyang says, is for Washington to reciprocate by lifting sanctions.
But North Korea hasn’t persuaded the world that it is sincere about denuclearization, the head of the global organization tasked with overseeing a ban on nuclear testing said in an interview Monday.
“One has to respect the steps that have been taken. It’s better than nothing,” said Lassina Zerbo, executive secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization. “But verification is what brings trust.”
Those lingering doubts worry negotiators as the two Koreas and the U.S. continue a diplomatic process aimed at lowering tensions and reducing the risk of a nuclear exchange. On Monday, North and South Korea agreed that their leaders would meet in Pyongyang next month, their third such summit.
Less than three weeks before he shook hands with President Trump in Singapore in June, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un invited journalists to watch officials dismantle his underground nuclear test site.
But nuclear experts and international organizations weren’t allowed in to independently verify the site’s demolition, fueling suspicions about whether the closure was irreversible, or whether damage caused by the North’s last nuclear test in September 2017 had already rendered the facility unusable.
Given the relatively small size of the explosions that journalists were allowed to witness at the May 24 demolition, it was unlikely that the facility’s many tunnels were all eliminated, Mr. Zerbo said.
RUSSIA
CHINA
Shenyang
Punggye-ri
nuclear test site
NORTH
KOREA
Pyongyang
Sea of Japan
(East Sea)
Seoul
SOUTH
KOREA
Busan
100 miles
JAPAN
100 km
“The entrance might be blown off...but blowing up an entrance isn’t enough to say that all of the tunnels are destroyed, because you can open another one from somewhere else,” he said in the interview in Seoul, where he met with South Korean lawmakers and the country’s foreign minister to urge them to press North Korea to allow for more verification.
“You don’t have to be Albert Einstein to understand this,” he said.
Additional efforts from North Korea to verify the closure would build trust with the international community and give the regime’s actions more credibility, said Mr. Zerbo, who is based in Vienna.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that he wants more experts on the ground to ensure that North Korea is being transparent in its disarmament efforts.
Mr. Zerbo said it wasn’t too late for North Korea to allow in international inspectors, who he said could still collect useful data to certify the dismantling of the Punggye-ri site.
“We are doing remote monitoring, constantly, but it’s not enough,” he said.
In recent days, North Korea has bristled at suggestions that it isn’t genuine about disarmament. Last week, after national security adviser John Bolton said North Korea hadn’t taken the necessary steps toward denuclearization, Pyongyang accused the U.S. of “highly despicable actions” and jeopardizing the climate of detente.
“Insulting the dialogue partner and throwing cold water over our sincere efforts for building confidence…is indeed a foolish act that amounts to waiting to see a boiled egg hatch out,” the North said. The statement avoided direct criticism of President Trump, while calling on Washington to “respond to our sincere efforts in a corresponding manner.”
Adding to concerns about whether the North is making a broader strategic turn away from its nuclear program, satellite imagery has shown evidence of Pyongyang expanding facilities at its nuclear-enrichment site at Yongbyon, and at two missile facilities. Satellite imagery has also shown North Korea dismantling a rocket launch site.
In the interview, Mr. Zerbo urged Pyongyang to sign the nuclear test-ban treaty, which he said would help overcome skepticism among scientists and diplomats about its intentions.
“Right now we need confidence-building measures—not just between two Koreas, but also with the international community to see…that North Korea is serious about the denuclearization process,” he said.
Some 183 countries have signed the nuclear test-ban treaty, which hasn’t entered into force. India and Pakistan, two acknowledged nuclear states, haven’t signed, while others such as the U.S., China, Israel and Iran have signed but haven’t ratified the agreement.
Write to Jonathan Cheng at jonathan.cheng@wsj.com
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