North Korea nuclear programme ‘can be dismantled in year’

Evidence collected since the June 12 summit in Singapore points to preparations to deceive the U.S. about the number of nuclear warheads in North Korea's arsenal as well as the existence of undisclosed facilities used to make fissile material for nuclear bombs, according to the report.

Bruce Klingner, a former Central Intelligence Agency analyst, said, "The observed activity appears inconsistent with a North Korean intent to abandon its nuclear weapons programs".

Japanese defense ministry officials were not available for immediate comment.

"And it's to North Korea's advantage to see these programs dismantled very quickly because then the elimination of sanctions aid by South Korea and Japan and others can all begin to flow".

The reports came days after a North Korea monitoring group published commercial satellite imagery which it said showed "rapid" infrastructural improvements at the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center, the only nuclear reactor known to supply the country's weapons program.

Pompeo told reporters the day after the Singapore summit on 12 June that Washington hoped to achieve "major disarmament" by North Korea within Trump's current term, which ends on 20 January 2021.

South Korea's new president Moon Jae-in also favours a softer approach towards Pyongyang and has met Kim twice during the recent remarkable detente on the Korean Peninsula.

"There is absolutely unequivocal evidence that they are trying to deceive the US", the official said.

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Asked about Trump's claim that the North Korea threat had been eliminated, Pompeo said Trump had meant to say only that the threat had been reduced.

The US network, citing intelligence officials, said North Korea's regime was preparing to "extract every concession" from the White House rather than relinquishing its nuclear weapons.

"We have developed a program", Bolton said, "...about really how to dismantle all of their WMD [weapons of mass destruction] and ballistic missile programmes in a year".

The only uranium enrichment facility North Korea has publicly acknowledged is Yongbyon - though reports of secret facilities have surfaced.

The US and North Korea were expected to cooperate for follow-up negotiations at a speedy pace, following the summit, but there has been no visible progress so far.

Another U.S. official cautioned: "Work is ongoing to deceive us on the number of facilities, the number of weapons, the number of missiles". "I don't think there's any doubt about that". "Physically we would be able to dismantle the overwhelming bulk of their programmes within a year".

Brennan noted that little happens in Russian Federation without Putin's approval, a fact Bolton said was "an interesting statement" and "something [he's] sure the president will want to pursue".

"Now, we'll let their actions speak for themselves", he added.