North Korea is “beginning” to dismantle a missile engine facility related to the regime’s nuclear weapons program, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed Wednesday.
“I know the United States is tracking the disassembly of a missile engine test site,” Pompeo told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “They’re beginning to dismantle that. It has to do with their missile program. It’s a good thing. Steps forward.”
Pompeo’s remarks corroborated public reports derived from satellite imagery of the North Korean facility. He took care not to “oversell” the progress made in the negotiations, but suggested the news provided a modest yet demonstrable step in the denuclearization process following President Trump’s historic summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
“It wasn’t in the written agreement itself, but Chairman Kim committed in his conversation with President Trump to [dismantle the site],” Pompeo emphasized.
The top diplomat acknowledged, however, that the regime is continuing with their nuclear weapons production. “Yes, they continue to produce fissile material,” he said.
[Related: Media declare Trump’s North Korea efforts a failure]
Pompeo also declined to comment on whether the regime is pushing for “submarine-launched ballistic missiles,” citing the need for a classified setting. His remarks failed to allay the skepticism of some lawmakers.
“It’s clear to everyone that North Korea’s dismantling of an outdated missile test facility, as well as a previously-dismantled ICBM assembly building, which can be rebuilt within three days, are empty gestures and not indicative that North Korea has changed its tune,” charged Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass.
Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., sounded a similar note when Pompeo declined to answer publicly a question about whether the regime is “making advancements” pertaining to their nuclear weapons program.
“I think it’s a very important point of information that we get, though, to know whether or not North Korea is either overtly, covertly . . . making advancements in their nuclear program,” Gardner said.
Pompeo offered to discuss the issue in a classified setting. “We’re engaged in a complex negotiation, with a difficult adversary, and each of the activities that we undertake is not going to fully apparent to the world the moment it is undertaken,” he said.
[Also read: Trump pushes back on reports: I’m ‘very happy’ about progress with North Korea]
