North Korea Has Long Way to Go to Denuclearize, But Yongbyon Offer 'significant': Ex-cia Official

North Korea has a long way to go to dismantle its nuclear weapons program, but the offer to shut down its Yongbyon facility is a "significant" step, a former U.S. intelligence official said Friday (local time).

Andrew Kim, who retired in December as head of the Central Intelligence Agency's Korea Mission Center, said North Koreans had complained to him that they weren't getting due credit for the steps they had taken to honor their denuclearization commitment after the first U.S.-North Korea summit in June.

"I personally heard from North Korean officials, and they claimed that their concessions were much more valuable than the reciprocal action the U.S. has taken so far," Kim said during a lecture at Stanford University. "They said this was part of their commitment to build trust with the U.S. and denuclearization."

U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed at their first summit in Singapore to pursue complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in exchange for American security guarantees.

To flesh out the deal, the two leaders are set to meet again in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Feb. 27 and 28.

"I personally believe that North Korea still has a way to go and needs to further demonstrate its sincerity about dismantling key strategic weapons and production infrastructure," the former CIA official said.

As a key member of the U.S. team handling preparations for the...