Grabbing major television and print coverage by worldwide media was North Korea’s demolition of what it claimed “its only nuclear test site” in Punggye-ri.
But Grumpy Editor --- with a raised eyebrow --- asked, with tricky North Korea, how do we know that no other test site exists in a country spanning 46,541 square miles topped with remote mountains and uplands that cover about 80 percent of the country's land area.
Much fanfare along with transporting foreign journalists to the scene of last week’s demolition set the stage for heavy coverage.
Caution was hinted by Britain’s Independent with: “The North did not invite international inspectors to the ceremony, which limits its value as a serious concession.”
Explosions deep in the northeast mountains were focused on three tunnels and a number of observation towers in the surrounding area.
Many foreign journalists, including eight from South Korea, took a long, rugged trip to get to the site where they spent nine hours.
Getting to the scene involved a dozen hours on a train, followed by several hours on a bus over bumpy dirt roads and then an hour hike to the site.
Meanwhile, a White House team over the weekend headed to Singapore for a possible summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un who said he’s still ready to sit down with Trump regarding “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."
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