The presidential office says the dismantlement of North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear complex would represent the gate to an irreversible stage towards the North’s complete denuclearization. 

A senior official of the top office offered this view to reporters on Thursday when asked to comment on the opinion held by some observers that Washington would disagree if Seoul believed Yongbyon’s dismantlement equals Pyongyang’s complete denuclearization.

The official’s comments come a day after President Moon Jae-in said in a written interview carried by multiple domestic and international news agencies that the Yongbyon complex is North Korea’s foundational nuclear facility. The president said that the North’s denuclearization would enter an irreversible stage if every nuclear asset at the Yongbyon complex is completely and transparently dismantled. 

While saying Yongbyon’s dismantlement would not equal a complete denuclearization, the senior official said Seoul believes the complex’s dismantlement would be regarded as something that cannot be reversed.  

The official went on to cite that Moon said in the interview that deciding which stage will be regarded as the irreversible stage toward complete denuclearization will be the key topic of future negotiations.

[Photo : KBS News]