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NORTH Korea has claimed it has carried out the planned demolition of its Punggye-ri nuclear test site in the presence of foreign journalists today.

The destruction of the infamous site, which lies deep in the mountains of the rogue state's north-east, happened just hours before before leader Kim Jong-un's meeting with Donald Trump next month was cancelled by the US President.

North Korea has carried out the planned demolition of its Punggye-ri nuclear site, pictured before the reported blast
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North Korea has carried out the planned demolition of its Punggye-ri nuclear site, pictured before the reported blastCredit: AP:Associated Press

The planned closing was previously announced by Kim and has been seen as a welcome gesture by the dictator ahead of the Singapore summit that was planned with Trump.

But it is not an irreversible move and would need to be followed by many more significant measures to meet America's demands for denuclearisation.

And while reporters were invited to the demotion, the crackpot regime did not ask international inspectors to witness the site's destruction.

Around 20 international journalists are believed to have witnessed the dismantlement including a Sky News team.

Insider's description of North Korean nuclear test site tunnels rigged with explosives before detonation
A group of international journalists were present during the planned demolition of the facility
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A group of international journalists were present during the planned demolition of the facilityCredit: AP:Associated Press
The images show increased activity at the underground nuclear facility earlier this year
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The images show increased activity at the underground nuclear facility earlier this yearCredit: DigitalGlobe
Last year, around 200 people died when a tunnel collapsed at the site
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Last year, around 200 people died when a tunnel collapsed at the siteCredit: DigitalGlobe
Dictator Kim carried out the site's destruction ahead of his meeting with President Trump
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Dictator Kim carried out the site's destruction ahead of his meeting with President TrumpCredit: AFP OR LICENSORS
North Korea ​media announce plans ​to dismantle nuclear test site

Tom Cheshire, Sky News Asia correspondent, said: "We hiked up into the mountains and watched the detonation from about 500 metres away.

"They counted it down - three, two, one.

"There was a huge explosion, you could feel it. Dust came at you, the heat came at you. It was extremely loud.

"It blew an observation cabin made out of wood to complete smithereens."

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To reach the remote site, the news reporters were taken by train, which had blacked-out windows, on a 12 hour journey deep into the mountains of Kilju County, North Hamgyong province.

Cheshire added that the group were briefed by Kim's deputy director of nuclear weapons who shared "unprecedented detail" of the country's nuke programme.

Before the demolition, journalists were shown tunnels where North Korea has carried out five nuclear tests, including the firing of a hydrogen bomb in 2017.

On October 10 last year, a tunnel at the underground nuclear site reportedly collapsed killing up to 200 people.

A North Korean official said the disaster happened during the construction of an underground tunnel, South Korea’s  news agency reports.

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