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This content was published on October 2, 2018 11:12 PM

FILE PHOTO - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a news conference at the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Singapore August 4, 2018. REUTERS/Edgar Su

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to North Korea at the weekend for denuclearization talks with the country's leader Kim Jong Un, the State Department said on Tuesday, calling this "forward progress," despite negative signals from Pyongyang.

Pompeo will also travel to Japan, South Korea and China from Oct. 6-8, and will be in North Korea on Sunday local time, or Saturday in U.S. Eastern Time.

"I think it shows forward progress and momentum that the secretary is making his fourth trip back in less than a year," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told a briefing, referring to the Pyongyang stop.

"Of course, we have quite a ways to go but we look forward to the next steps in this conversation."

Pompeo's visit comes ahead of a planned second summit between Kim and President Donald Trump. The invitation to return to Pyongyang was made during a meeting with North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho on the sidelines of their United Nations General Assembly last week.

Nauert said the stops in Japan, South Korea and China were intended to brief counterparts on the Pyongyang talks. She said he would meet Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Foreign Minister Taro Kono in Tokyo and President Moon Jae-in and Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha in Seoul, while in Beijing he would meet counterparts to discuss "bilateral, regional and global issues."

At an unprecedented June meeting with Trump, Kim pledged to work towards denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, but his actions have fallen short of Washington's demands for a complete inventory of its nuclear weapons and irreversible steps to give up an arsenal that potentially threatens the United States.

Trump has nevertheless hailed progress and on Saturday took his enthusiasm for his detente with Kim to new heights by declaring at a rally with supporters that "we fell in love" after exchanging letters.

Earlier that day, North Korea's Ri struck a different tone, telling the United Nations that continued U.S. sanctions were deepening Pyongyang's mistrust in the United States and there was no way the country would disarm unilaterally under such circumstances.

Ri said North Korea had taken "significant goodwill measures," such as stopping nuclear and missiles tests and dismantling a nuclear test site, but there had been no corresponding response from Washington.

North Korea has been seeking a formal end to the 1950-53 Korea War, but the United States has said Pyongyang must give up its nuclear weapons first. Washington has also resisted calls to relax tough international sanctions.

Pompeo's last trip to North Korea did not go well. He left Pyongyang in July hailing progress, only for North Korea to denounce him for making "gangster-like demands."

In a commentary on Tuesday, North Korea's official KCNA news agency said declaring the end of the 1950-53 Korean War could "never be a bargaining chip" for denuclearization and said experts calling for North Korea to declare details of its arms programs were "spouting ... rubbish."

Pompeo had planned to travel to North Korea in August but Trump cancelled the trip at the last moment and publicly acknowledged for the first time that his efforts to get Pyongyang to denuclearize had stalled.

Nauert said she did not agree that talks had stalled and when asked if Trump's comments on Saturday had been helpful, replied: "I think if our leaders have relatively friendly relations, that that's a good thing. That that can only help us to achieve our final goal."

She said that in the meantime, sanctions would remain in place.

"We are not easing the pressure in that regard at all," she said, while responding when asked if Washington was considering any kind of peace declaration: "We are not. Nothing has changed with regard to our policy."

Pompeo's trip to China comes at a time of deteriorating relations and tit-for-tat tariffs sparked by Trump's accusations of unfair Chinese trade practices. Last week, Trump accused China of seeking to meddle in the Nov. 6 U.S. congressional elections, saying it did not want his Republican Party to do well.

Reuters reported on Sunday that China had cancelled a security meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis planned for October.

Asked if Pompeo would attend the diplomatic side of the so-called Diplomatic and Security Dialogue, Nauert said: "The trip is, as far as I understand, to have conversations about North Korea and other issues of bilateral concern. I don't have anything beyond that right now."

"In any relationship you have your high points, you have your medium points and with some countries you have your low points," she said.

"I am not going to characterize our relationship with China in any one of those three ways, but relationships can ebb and flow over time, so we certainly have a lot to talk about with the government of China."</s>SEOUL, South Korea -- Seoul said on Monday that the rival Koreas had begun removing mines and other explosives at two sites inside their heavily armed border as part of their recent tension-reduction steps. They will likely end up pulling out a very small portion of an estimated 2 million mines littered inside and near the 155-mile-long, 2.5-mile-wide Demilitarized Zone.

But it would be the two countries' first joint demining work in more than a decade and comes amid international diplomacy aimed at ridding North Korea of its nuclear weapons. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to hold a new round of direct talks with his North Korean counterparts soon, and he's kept the prospect of a declaration officially ending the Korean War on the table.

Below is a more in-depth look at the mine clearing, and what it really means:

The sites

The mine removal starting Monday took place at the Koreas' Joint Security Area in their shared border village of Panmunjom and another front-line area where the two countries plan their first joint searches for the remains of soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War.

Panmunjom, where an armistice was signed in 1953 to end hostilities in the war, is the most famous DMZ site. Rival soldiers face each other only feet away from each other, and it has been the scene of bloodshed and violence, including the 1976 ax-killing of two American troops. But it's also a venue for talks such as two of the three inter-Korean summit meetings so far this year, and its mystique makes it a popular tourist destination.

Pompeo says North Korea will allow nuclear inspectors

Under deals signed by their defense chiefs on the sidelines of a September summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, the demining of the Joint Security Area is part of a broader step to "disarm" the zone and turn it to a "place for peace and unity."

The other area being demined is around the so-called "Arrow Head Hill," where some of the war's heaviest fighting took place over a strategically important hilltop position.

Seoul's Defense Ministry said the remains of about 300 South Korean, French and U.S. soldiers are believed to be in the area. The remains of a large number of Chinese and North Korean soldiers are also likely there.

During the war, an outnumbered French battalion belonging to the American-led U.N. Command repelled a series of Chinese attacks in the area in October 1952, months before a South Korean army division also turned back similar Chinese assaults.

The mines

Experts believe the South Korean and U.S. militaries have planted about 1-1.2 million mines south of the DMZ while North Korea has put about 800,000-1 million mines on its side. It's not known how many mines are at Panmunjom and Arrow Head Hill, but military commentator Lee Illwoo said the Koreas would be able to clear tens of thousands at most.

Experts believe both Koreas poorly managed their mines and don't know exactly how many they planted and in what specific places. It's not unusual for wooden North Korean mine boxes to wash down a swollen river in summer, causing deadly incidents in South Korea. A 2015 DMZ mine explosion blamed on North Korea that maimed two South Korean soldiers pushed the rivals to the brink of an armed conflict. Many South Korean mines are also believed to have been dislodged due to flooding or landslides.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (L) and South Korean President Moon Jae-in (R) cross back the military demarcation line to the south side after Moon crossing the border to north upon meeting for the Inter-Korean Summit April 27, 2018 in Panmunjom, South Korea. Getty

At Panmunjom, the Koreas are to spend 20 days clearing mines before withdrawing troops, weapons and guard posts in the area over the next five days. They eventually plan to have 35 unarmed personnel from each side guard the village and let tourists freely cross ankle-high concrete slabs that mark the border there.

In the case of Arrow Head Hill, they aim to remove the mines by the end of November. After building a cross-border road and forming a joint excavation team, the Koreas are to launch a seven-month effort to locate remains in April next year.

The ramifications

Monday's mine clearing is the first of its kind since the Koreas worked together to remove mines and explosives at a few border areas to accommodate now-stalled economic and transportation projects during a previous era of rapprochement in the 2000s. Other deals reached by the defense chiefs include withdrawing front-line guard posts and establishing buffer zones along the land, sea and aerial boundaries where live-fire drills and military flights would be banned.

"It's the start of peace," said Kim Ki-ho, head of the private Korea Mine Clearance Research Institute. "We have to remove those mines, though we are not taking out all the mines at the DMZ."

Lee, the commentator, played down the significance of the mine removal, saying that "North Korea's military threats won't disappear even though we get rid of a small number of front-line mines."

North and South Korea summit: New pledge on nuclear weapons

The complete removal of all the DMZ mines could be a dilemma for both Koreas. South Korea would find itself more vulnerable to North Korean infiltration and assault via land routes, while North Korea would worry about front-line soldiers and residents escaping to the South more easily, Lee said. Most North Korean refugees living in the South have fled via the less guarded border with China.

In recent years, South Korea has unilaterally removed thousands of mines annually near the DMZ as part of efforts to improve the lives and safety of civilians near the border area. Seoul's Defense Ministry told lawmakers in 2015 that at that rate, it would take about 200 years to remove all the mines on the southern side of the DMZ and nearby front-line areas.

If the demining effort is sustained and successful, it would be seen as progress in the international campaign to ban mines, said Kim Jae-yeop, a professor of defense strategy at South Korea's Hannam University.

The United States and South Korea are among the highest-profile countries that have refused to sign the Ottawa Convention banning the use of mines in war, which came into effect in 1999, chiefly because mines are heavily used in the DMZ.</s>US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang on Sunday as part of his trip to Asia, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told CBN News Tuesday.

"Secretary Pompeo will travel to Japan, North Korea, the Republic of Korea, and China from October 6 to 8," Nauert announced. "In Tokyo, on October 6 and 7, the Secretary will meet with Prime Minister Abe and Foreign Minister Kono. In Pyongyang, on October 7, the Secretary will meet with Chairman Kim."

She added that Pompeo will meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Foreign Minister Kyung-wha in Seoul on October 7 and 8.

Meanwhile, the on again, off again relationship between the US and North Korea continues.

After glowing comments at the United Nations last week from President Trump, Kim is now accusing the administration of demanding too much while offering too few concessions, in negotiations to eliminate nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula.

On Tuesday, the North called demands by the US "rubbish."

Its state-run news agency reported the end-of-war declaration can "never be a bargaining chip for getting the D.P.R.K. denuclearized."

"The things that we'd hope to see and we've been very clear about are a complete declaration of their program. What their capabilities are, locations and facilities," said Mathew Ha, a research associate with the Foundation Defense of Democracies.

Ha says despite claims from Kim that he's demolished his country's only known nuclear test site, he can't be trusted.

South Korea's own intelligence shows North Korea has up to 60 nuclear bombs.

Ha adds the United States should also keep its eye on South Korea's President Moon Jae-in, a progressive who wants inter-Korean reconciliation.

"We just need to control the pacing of that to make sure the US and South Korea are lockstep," said Ha. "Because the alliance between Seoul and Washington, the 60 plus year alliance has been the lynchpin to the Korean Peninsula."

He says the United States must continue the economic sanctions and drain North Korea's revenue.</s>The following content is sourced from external partners. We cannot guarantee that it is suitable for the visually or hearing impaired.

This content was published on October 1, 2018 7:28 AM

South Korean President Moon Jae-in speaks to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a luncheon, in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on September 21, 2018. KCNA via REUTERS

SEOUL (Reuters) - Troops from North and South Korea began removing some landmines along their heavily fortified border on Monday, the South's defence ministry said, as part of a pact to reduce tension and build trust on the divided peninsula.

Project details were agreed during last month's summit in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, between its leader, Kim Jong Un, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

In a statement, the ministry said the two sides agreed to remove all landmines in the so-called Joint Security Area (JSA) in Panmunjom within the next 20 days, with military engineers performing the hazardous task on the South Korean side.

There was no immediate confirmation from North Korea that its troops had begun the process.

The deal also provides for removal of guard posts and weapons from the JSA to follow the removal of the mines, with the troops remaining there to be left unarmed.

The JSA is the only spot along the 250-km (155-mile) -long "demilitarised zone" (DMZ) where troops from both Koreas are face to face, and it is also staffed by United Nations troops.

In November 2017, North Korean troops at the JSA shot one of their soldiers defecting to the South five times.

Since then, however, it has been the scene of the first dramatic April summit between Kim and Moon, as well as their second, more low-key meeting, in May.

At the April summit, the two Koreas announced their intention to turn the DMZ - long a symbol of tension and division - into a "peace zone."

They have already dismantled propaganda loudspeakers and some guard posts along the border.

Demining projects are also set to begin on Monday in Gangwon province in eastern South Korea, to allow teams to search for the remains of soldiers killed in the 1950-1953 Korean War, the ministry added.

More than a million landmines were laid in border areas including the DMZ and the Civilian Control Zone in the South, say demining experts, and civilians and soldiers alike have been killed or injured by them.

In 2015, two South Korean soldiers were maimed by what Seoul said was a North Korean landmine, an accusation the North denied.</s>Troops from North and South Korea have started removing some of the more than 800,000 landmines buried along the border between the countries amid the two nations’ resumed relations, officials said Monday.

South Korean army engineers and demining equipment were deployed Monday to the heavily fortified Joint Security Area in the village of Panmunjom and to the other frontline area called “Arrow Head Hill,” where hundreds of soldiers were killed during the Korean War. Panmunjom is one of the most famous sites in the Demilitarized Zone and is where the armistice was signed in 1953 to end the Korean War.

The move was agreed upon during a meeting last month in Pyongyang by the leaders of the two Koreas, Kim Jong Un in the North and Moon Jae-in in the South. It also comes as U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is set to visit North Korea’s capital this month to try to set up a second summit between Kim and President Trump.

In the South, troops began removing mines on the southern part of the two sites on Monday morning. Later in the day, North Korean soldiers were detected engaging it what is believed to be demining of the other part of the sites, a Seoul official said Monday.

The official refused to provide more details. North Korea’s state media didn’t immediately confirm the reported demining.

All the landmines in the Joint Security Area – the only portion of the DMZ where forces stand face-to-face – are expected to be removed within 20 days. After the work is completed, guard posts and weapons will be removed and unarmed troops will remain stationed in the area, a statement by South Korea’s defense ministry said on Monday.

Experts believe the South Korean and U.S. militaries have planted about 1-1.2 million mines south of the DMZ while North Korea has put about 800,000-1 million mines on its side. It's not known how many mines are at Panmunjom and Arrow Head Hill, but military commentator Lee Illwoo said the Koreas would be able to clear tens of thousands at most.

"It's the start of peace," said Kim Ki-ho, head of the private Korea Mine Clearance Research Institute. "We have to remove those mines, though we are not taking out all the mines at the DMZ."

Mines dislodged by flooding and landslides have occasionally caused deaths in front-line areas in South Korea. In 2015, a landmine blast blamed on North Korea maimed two South Korean soldiers and pushed the Koreas to the brink of war.

At Arrow Head Hill, where some of the fiercest battles occurred during the Korean War, Seoul officials believe there are remains of about 300 South Korea and U.N. forces, along with an unspecified number of Chinese and North Korean remains.

The Koreas remain split along the 155-mile-long DMZ that was originally created as a buffer zone at the end of the Korean War. About two million mines are believed to be scattered in and near the DMZ, which is also guarded by hundreds of thousands of combat troops, barbed wire fences and tank traps.

At an event marking South Korea’s 70th Armed Forces Day on Monday, Moon said the military deals will “end all hostile acts on land, sea, and sky between South and North Korea.”

Moon, a liberal who aspires to improve ties with North Korea and who has been a driving force behind U.S.-North Korean nuclear diplomacy, also called for a strong national defense, saying “peace can continue only when we have power and are confident of protecting ourselves.”

Many experts say the fate of inter-Korean deals can be affected by how nuclear negotiations go between the United States and North Korea. Past rapprochement efforts were often stalled after a standoff over the North's nuclear ambitions intensified.

After provocative tests of three intercontinental ballistic missiles and a powerful nuclear weapon last year, North Korea entered talks with the United States and South Korea earlier this year, saying it's willing to deal away its expanding nuclear arsenal. Kim has subsequently held a series of summits with U.S., South Korean and Chinese leaders and taken some steps such as dismantling his nuclear test site.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.</s>The following content is sourced from external partners. We cannot guarantee that it is suitable for the visually or hearing impaired.

This content was published on October 1, 2018 10:15 AM

South Korean President Moon Jae-in speaks to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a luncheon, in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on September 21, 2018. KCNA via REUTERS

SEOUL (Reuters) - Troops from North and South Korea began removing some landmines along their heavily fortified border on Monday, the South's defence ministry said, in a pact to reduce tension and build trust on the divided peninsula.

Project details were agreed during last month's summit in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, between its leader, Kim Jong Un, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

In a statement, the ministry said the two sides agreed to remove all landmines in the so-called Joint Security Area (JSA) in Panmunjom within the next 20 days, with military engineers performing the hazardous task on the South Korean side.

There was no immediate confirmation from North Korea that its troops had begun the process.

The deal also provides for removal of guard posts and weapons from the JSA to follow the removal of the mines, with the troops remaining there to be left unarmed.

The JSA is the only spot along the 250-km (155-mile) -long "demilitarised zone" (DMZ) where troops from both Koreas are face to face.

South Korean troops have gradually taken over most operations along their side of the border but international forces under the U.S.-led United Nations Command retain major roles, especially at the JSA, where an American commander and a South Korean deputy lead the security battalion.

UNC spokesman Colonel Chad Carroll declined to confirm if the command would also withdraw any weapons from the JSA, but said American forces would provide support for the demining operation.

"United States Forces Korea will perform a support role - to include having air medical evacuation assets available to respond within minutes of any potential medical emergencies," he told Reuters in a statement.

Since fighting during the 1950-1953 Korean War ended in a stalemate, at least nine soldiers have been killed in incidents with North Korean troops, including the killing in 1976 of two U.S. soldiers by axe-wielding North Koreans, the UNC says.

In November 2017, North Korean troops at the JSA shot one of their soldiers defecting to the South five times.

More recently, it was the scene of the first dramatic April summit between Kim and Moon, as well as their second, more low-key meeting, in May.

In April, the neighbours announced their intention to turn the DMZ - long a symbol of tension and division - into a "peace zone".

They have already dismantled propaganda loudspeakers and some guard posts along the border.

Demining projects are also set to begin on Monday in Gangwon province in South Korea's east, to allow teams to search for the remains of soldiers killed in the war, the ministry added.

More than a million landmines were laid in border areas including the DMZ and the Civilian Control Zone in the South, say demining experts, and civilians and soldiers alike have been killed or injured by them.

In 2015, two South Korean soldiers were maimed by what Seoul said was a North Korean landmine, an accusation the North denied.</s>(SEOUL, South Korea) — South Korea began clearing mines from two sites inside the heavily fortified border with North Korea on Monday under tension-reducing agreements reached this year. Seoul says North Korea is expected to do the same.

The development comes amid renewed international diplomacy on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program after weeks of stalemated negotiations. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is to visit Pyongyang this month to try to set up a second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

South Korean troops entered the Demilitarized Zone on Monday morning to remove mines around the border village of Panmunjom and another frontline area where the rivals plan their first joint searches with North Korea for soldiers during the 1950-53 Korean War, according to Seoul’s Defense Ministry.

The South Korean troops will try to focus on taking out mines on the southern parts of Panmunjom’s Joint Security Area and the so-called “Arrow Head Hill,” where one of the fiercest battles during the Korean War happened. Seoul officials believe the remains of about 300 South Korean and U.N. forces are in the Arrow Head Hill and likely many Chinese and North Korean remains too.

South Korean Defense Ministry officials said they couldn’t immediately confirm whether North Korea also began demining on the northern parts of the two sites. But they said they expected the North to abide by the tension-easing deals their defense chiefs struck on the sidelines of their leaders’ summit last month in Pyongyang.

Aiming to reduce conventional military threats, the Koreas’ defense chiefs also agreed to withdraw 11 frontline guard posts by December and set up buffer zones along their land and sea boundaries and a no-fly zone above the borderline to prevent accidental armed clashes.

About 2 million mines are believed to be peppered inside the Koreas’ 248-kilometer (155-mile)-long Demilitarized Zone that was originally created as a buffer zone at the end of the Korean War. The DMZ is the world’s most heavily fortified border that is also guarded by hundreds of thousands of combat troops, barbed wire fences and tank traps on both sides.

Many experts say the fate of inter-Korean deals can be affected by how nuclear negotiations would go between the United States and North Korea. Past rapprochement efforts were often stalled after an international standoff over the North’s nuclear ambitions intensified.

After provocative tests of three intercontinental ballistic missiles and a powerful nuclear weapon last year, North Korea entered talks with the United States and South Korea earlier this year, saying it’s willing to deal away its expanding nuclear arsenal. Kim Jong Un has subsequently held a series of summits with U.S., South Korean and Chinese leaders and taken some steps like dismantling his nuclear-testing site.

Nuclear diplomacy later came to a standstill amid disputes over how genuine North Korea is about its disarmament pledge. But Trump, Pompeo and other U.S. officials have recently reported progress in the denuclearization discussions with the North. Pompeo is to make his third trip to North Korea soon for talks.</s>SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Seoul says South Korea has begun clearing mines from two sites inside the heavily fortified border with North Korea under a package of tension-reduction deal between the rivals.

Seoul's Defense Ministry says North Korea is expected to do the same on Monday.

Ministry officials say South Korean troops entered the Demilitarized Zone on Monday morning to remove mines around the border village of Panmunjom and another frontline area where they plan their first joint searches with North Korea for soldiers during the 1950-53 Korean War.

The Koreas' militaries agreed on a range of deals aimed at lowering their decades-long military animosities on the sidelines of a summit between their leaders in Pyongyang.

The move comes amid renewed international diplomacy on North Korea's nuclear program.</s>A top South Korean official told lawmakers that North Korea is estimated to have up to 60 nuclear weapons, in Seoul's first public comment about the size of the North's secrecy-clouded weapons arsenal.

Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon told parliament Monday the estimates on the size of North Korea's nuclear arsenal range from 20 bombs to as many as 60. He was responding to a question by a lawmaker, saying the information came from the intelligence authorities. The National Intelligence Service, South Korea's main spy agency, couldn't immediately comment.

Cho may have unintentionally revealed the information. His ministry said Tuesday Cho's comments didn't mean that South Korea would accept North Korea as a nuclear state, suggesting Seoul's diplomatic efforts to rid the North of its nuclear program would continue.

The South Korean assessment on the North's arsenal is not much different from various outside civilian estimates largely based on the amount of nuclear materials that North is believed to have produced.

According to South Korean government reports, North is believed to have produced 110 pounds of weaponized plutonium, enough for at least eight bombs. Stanford University scholars, including nuclear physicist Siegfried Hecker who visited North Korea's centrifuge facility at Nyongbyon in 2010, wrote earlier this year that North Korea is estimated to have a highly enriched uranium inventory of 550 to 1,100 pounds, sufficient for 25 to 30 nuclear devices.

Many foreign experts say North Korea are likely running additional secret uranium-enrichment plants.

The North entered talks with the United States and South Korea earlier this year, saying it's willing to negotiate away its advancing nuclear arsenal. Nuclear diplomacy later stalled due to suspicions over how sincere North Korea is about its disarmament pledge, but U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is to visit Pyongyang this month to set up a second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.</s>North Korea may have up to 60 nuclear weapons, South Korea has said in its first official comment about Kim Jong-un's secret arsenal.

Seoul's Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon told parliament the estimates on the size of North Korea's nuclear arsenal range from 20 bombs to as many as 60.

His comment was the first time a senior Seoul official has publicly talked about the size of the North's haul of weapons.

Cho, responding to a question by a politician, said the information came from intelligence officials.

He may have unintentionally revealed the information while his own ministry said the comments did not mean that South Korea would accept North Korea as a nuclear state. This suggests Seoul's diplomatic efforts to rid the North of its nuclear programme would continue.

The South Korean assessment on the North's arsenal is not much different from various outside civilian estimates largely based on the amount of nuclear materials that the North is believed to have produced.

According to South Korean government reports, North is believed to have produced 110 lbs of weaponized plutonium, enough for at least eight bombs.

Stanford University scholars, including nuclear physicist Siegfried Hecker who visited North Korea's centrifuge facility at Nyongbyon in 2010, wrote earlier this year that North Korea is estimated to have a highly enriched uranium inventory of 550 to 1,100 lbs, sufficient for 25 to 30 nuclear devices.

Many foreign experts say North Korea is likely running additional secret uranium-enrichment plants.

The North entered talks with the United States and South Korea earlier this year, saying it is willing to negotiate away its advancing nuclear arsenal.

Nuclear diplomacy later stalled due to suspicions over how sincere North Korea is about its disarmament pledge.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is to visit Pyongyang this month to set up a second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
North Korea and South Korea begin removing landmines and other explosives from the Korean Demilitarized Zone.