N. KOREA STOPS NUKE, MISSILE TESTS
Country to pursue economic growth and peace, says leader Kim Jong-un
NORTH Korea will immediately suspend nuclear and missile tests and scrap its nuclear test site, and instead, pursue economic growth and peace, the North’s state media said yesterday.
North Korean leader Kim Jongun said his country no longer needed to conduct nuclear or intercontinental ballistic missile tests because it had completed its goal of developing the weapons.
It was the first time Kim directly addressed his position on North Korea’s nuclear weapons programmes ahead of planned summits with South Korean President Moon Jae-in next week and with US President Donald Trump next month or early June.
The pledge to halt the development of nuclear weapons, initiated by his grandfather, would mean a significant reversal for the young leader, 34, who has staked his security on his nuclear arsenal and spent years celebrating such weapons as an integral part of his regime’s legitimacy and power.
A testing freeze and commitment to close the test site alone would fall short of Washington's demand that Pyongyang completely dismantle all of its nuclear weapons and missiles.
But announcing the concessions now, rather than during summit meetings, shows Kim is serious about denuclearisation talks, experts say.
“The northern nuclear test ground of the DPRK will be dismantled to transparently guarantee the discontinuance of the nuclear test,” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said after Kim convened a plenary session of the Central Committee of the ruling Worker’s Party on Friday.
“North Korea has agreed to suspend all nuclear tests and close up a major test site. This is very good news for North Korea and the world — big progress! Look forward to our summit,” Trump said on Twitter.
China, North Korea’s sole major ally which has nevertheless been frustrated by its defiant development of weapons, welcomed the announcement, saying it would ease tension and promote denuclearisation.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe welcomed the North Korean statement, but said it must lead to action.
Many US officials and experts doubt Kim's sincerity about denuclearising, viewing the recent flurry of diplomacy as a ploy to win relief from economic sanctions.
Koh Yu-hwan, professor of North Korean Studies at Dongguk University in Seoul, said he did not believe Pyongyang was ready to give up its nuclear weapons.
“Kim is just saying that now that the nuclear development is complete, he will put all the efforts towards building an economy,” Koh said.
In Washington DC, the US-led airstrikes against the Syrian regime also sent a message to Kim ahead of talks with Trump, Japan’s defence minister said on Friday.
Observers have suggested the strikes against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could strengthen Trump’s hand in talks, as they showed Kim that the West has the political will to back up its rhetoric, as well as the capability for precise strikes launched from afar.
“This is an action that was taken against weapons of mass destruction, and I think this gave a certain message to North Korea as well,” Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera said.