Kim offers to dismantle nuclear test site – but only after U.S. acts

TOKYO – The offer by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un came with a caveat. He would permanently dismantle his country's main nuclear site, but only if only if the United States makes concessions first.

President Trump called the developments part of “tremendous progress” in outreach to Kim's regime yet made no new commitments.

Kim's announcement did appear, however, to give a boost to diplomatic overtures.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States was “prepared to engage immediately” with North Korea to move dialogue ahead. Pompeo also plans to meet the North's foreign minister, Ri Yong Ho, in New York next week during the United Nations General Assembly.

Kim's proposal Wednesday came after talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang seeking to push forward the two countries' peace process and advance dialogue with the United States. Standing side by side after their second day of talks, Kim and Moon declared that they had taken a major People at Seoul Station in Seoul, South Korea, watch a TV screen featuring South Korean President Moon Jae-in (left) and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attending a news conference in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Wednesday.

step toward an “era of peace and prosperity” on the Korean Peninsula.

Kim pledged to visit the South Korean capital, Seoul, in what would be a first for a North Korean leader. He also said he would allow in “external inspectors” to verify that a key missile test site has been disabled.

Later, Moon, who has fervently pursued engagement with the North, made

history by addressing an audience of 150,000 people at a performance of the “mass games,” North Korea's synchronized gymnastics and dance show.

“We have lived together for 5,000 years and been separated for 70 years,” he told the audience in the huge May Day Stadium. “We must live together as one people.”

The talks were supposed to enhance cooperation between

the two Koreas, as well as pave the way for a second summit between Kim and Trump later this year.

Experts said it was far from clear that Kim had made concessions that would make a summit an attractive proposition for the U.S. administration, but Trump himself reacted positively, saying on Twitter that the news was “very exciting.”