After initial reporting of plans to allow experts and media personnel to observe the closing of North Korea's Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site,[1] now scheduled for next week,[2] commercial satellite imagery from May 7 provided the first definitive evidence that dismantlement of the test site was already well underway.[3] Several key operational support buildings, located just outside the North, West and South Portals, have been razed since our last analysis. Some of the rails for the mining carts, which had led from the tunnels to their respective spoil piles, have apparently been removed. Additionally, some carts seem to have been tipped over and/or disassembled, and several small sheds/outbuildings around the site had been removed.
Other more substantial buildings around the facility remain intact, including the two largest buildings at the Command Center, and the Main Administrative Support Area. Moreover, no tunnel entrances appear to have yet been permanently closed. This may be because on May 12, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) announced that the final dismantlement of the Punggye-ri nuclear test ground would be witnessed by foreign journalists and would involve the “collapsing all of its tunnels with explosions, blocking its entrances, and removing all observation facilities, research buildings and security posts.”
North Portal
Between April 20 and May 7, 2018, the probable engineering office building and a possible instrumentation shed located just outside the North Portal (where the last five underground nuclear tests have been conducted) were razed along with at least two smaller buildings or sheds. Part of the roof was removed from the probable compressor building that evidently provided ventilation to the tunnel system under Mt. Mantap. A possible air line, which connected that building to the North Portal, may have also been removed. (See Figures 1 and 2)
Interestingly, a small square-shaped foundation had been newly emplaced out on the North Portal spoil pile. While it is too early to determine its intended purpose, it is conceivably for a future camera position to record the closure of the West Portal. A small shed, having a divided entrance wall, has also been added near that North Portal spoil pile. While it is similar to the one recently constructed on the West Portal spoil pile, the role of these structures remains unclear vis-à-vis the ongoing site closure.
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