North Korea says it will shut nuclear test facility
Kim Jong-un promises to halt missile tests as South starts hotline to Pyongyang in run-up to peace summit
KIM JONG-UN, North Korea’s leader, has shut down a nuclear test facility in the most significant sign to date of his potential commitment to nuclear disarmament.
The country’s state media, the mouthpiece of the North Korean government, said that from today it would close the test site and suspend any further launches.
“From April 21, North Korea will stop nuclear tests and launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles,” the official KCNA news agency said. “The North will shut down a nuclear test site in the country’s northern side to prove the vow to suspend nuclear test.”
Mr Kim has not launched any missiles since last November, but the closing of the test site offers a new olive branch before key talks next week with South Korea and the proposed meeting further down the line with President Donald Trump.
Mr Trump tweeted last night: “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.”
North and South Korea yesterday set up the first direct telephone hotline between their leaders before the summit that aims to resolve nuclear tensions with Pyongyang and bring peace to the Korean peninsula.
An official in Seoul confirmed that a four-minute test call was conducted between South Korea’s presidential office and the State Affairs Commission, Pyongyang’s most powerful institution. The two officials briefly discussed the weather, according to South Korea.
The hotline is intended to prevent misunderstandings between the countries, that are still technically at war. It will be used in the next few days when Mr Kim and Moon Jae-in, South Korea’s president, speak for the first time shortly before they meet face to face at a summit in the demilitarised border zone (DMZ).
The meeting will be the third summit of its kind since the 1950-53 Korean War and the first since 2007, when Kim Jong-il, Kim’s father, met Roh Moohyun, the then South Korean leader.
The talksy could prove to be a major signpost for negotiations on North Korea’s denuclearisation between Mr Kim and Mr Trump which are anticipated in late May or early June.
Mr Moon sounded a note of optimism yesterday indicating Mr Kim had dropped his demand that US troops leave the Korean peninsula in return for giving up his nuclear weapons, potentially removing one of the biggest obstacles to a comprehensive peace deal.