SEOUL/WASHINGTON : South Korea’s spy agency has observed preparations by North Korea for international inspections at several of its nuclear and missile test sites, the Yonhap news agency said on Wednesday, citing a South Korean lawmaker.
U.S. officials declined to confirm the observations, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in Washington he planned to meet his North Korean negotiating counterpart next week and would speak to him about inspections.
Pompeo said in a radio interview that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had committed to allowing U.S. inspectors at two “significant” sites when he met him in Pyongyang this month.
“We hope to get them there before too long,” he told the Laura Ingraham show. Pompeo did not identify the sites.
Kim Min-ki of South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party told reporters earlier that the country’s National Intelligence Service observed North Koreans “conducting preparation and intelligence activities that seem to be in preparation for foreign inspectors’ visit” at Punggye-ri nuclear test site and the Sohae Satellite launching ground.
The lawmaker added that no major movements had been seen at Yongbyon, the North’s main nuclear complex.
