North Korea has been trying to restore parts of the Tongchang-ri nuclear missile launch site situated in Yongbyon in the north of Pyongyang, which it had begun to dismantle during the first summit between the two powerful nations, United Staes and North Korea, according to a report by the National Intelligence Services (NIS) on Tuesday.
According to Reuters news reports, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency and two US think tanks reported on Tuesday, “(The North) appears to be putting back a roof and a door (to a Tongchang-ri facility).”
US national security advisor John Bolton said, “If they’re not willing to do it, then I think President Trump has been very clear … they’re not going to get relief from the crushing economic sanctions that have been imposed on them and we’ll look at ramping those sanctions up in fact.”
Two US officials sought to pressurize North Korea by reintroducing a bill on Tuesday, imposing fresh sanctions on any banks that cooperate business with North’s government.
Pyongyang had ceased its nuclear reactors, located inside the nuclear complex in Yongbyon, late last year, without any signs of resuming the activities there anymore. The underground tunnels for the nuclear sites have remained shut as well as unattained since their destruction in last year’s May.
The NIC noted the army of South Korea along with the Americans ran a “thorough” monitoring system in order to keep an eye over North’s nuclear and missile facilities.
During a press conference, the NIS was quoted as saying, “The US information in the same as ours, but we can’t comment on what facilities are located where.
Currently, N Korea has sought sanctions reliefs in light of the steps taken towards denuclearization. However, the US has repeatedly asserted that there would be no sanction relief until N Korea ensure complete denuclearization.
During the second summit between the US President Donald Trump and his North counterpart Kim Jong-Un in Hanoi, Vietnam, scheduled earlier this month, both leaders reached no deal as Kim pressed for sanctions relief, Trump said.