북한 핵실험장 폐기 카운트다운 - 김현욱 박사 대담<br /><br /> We eagerly await news from North Korea about the shutdown of the Punggye-ri nuclear test site. As mentioned earlier, foreign reporters are at the scene, but it looks like we won't be able to receive their reports until Friday when they get back to the press centre in Wonsan. The Punggye-ri test site holds an important place in North Korea's nuclear program as it's where all six of the regime's nuclear tests have been performed. If this site is shut down, it could effectively signal the end of nuclear testing... for now, as there are no other known test sites in North Korea.<br /><br />To explain more about the site and how we should interpret North Korea's decision to shut it down, we have with us Professor Kim Hyun-wook from the Korea National Diplomatic Academy. Thank you for joining us today.<br /><br /> My pleasure.<br /><br /> 1 - The Punggye-ri nuclear test site is where all of North Korea's nuclear tests have been performed. How important is this site, and will this shutdown really slow down the regime's nuclear weapons program?<br /><br /> 2 - What has North Korea revealed of the details of the test site's shutdown?<br /><br /> 3 - How far will North Korea go at dismantling the test site? Will it go as far as to make the site unusable? Or as some pundits have described it, will it just be a shut down rather than a dismantling?<br /><br /> 4 - What message do we take away from this shutdown? Are they showing that they are ready to denuclearize? Does this show they are ready to talk with the U.S.?<br /><br /> 5 - How significant was it that nuclear inspectors or experts were not invited to witness the shutdown? Surely that raises suspicions?<br /><br /> 6 - North Korea's vice foreign minister Choe Sun-hui is quoted in North Korean state media today saying that the summit with the U.S. will depend on Washington's behavior. When this news first broke there were some concerns that this was another sign that the summit was on the rocks. But if we look at another section of the report, it says, "If the U.S. offends our goodwill and clings to unlawful and outrageous acts, I will put forward a suggestion to our supreme leadership to reconsider the North Korea-U.S. summit." Now that makes it sound like the North Korean leadership is still intent on the summit, despite Choe's reservations. What do you make of this announcement?<br />
