North Korea says nuclear testing suspended

SEOUL • North Korea says it has suspended nuclear and long-range missile tests and plans to close its nuclear test site.

The announcement came ahead of a new round of nuclear negotiations between Pyongyang, Seoul and Washington, but there was no clear indication in the North’s announcement if it would be willing to deal away its arsenal.

The North rather expressed confidence about its nuclear force, which leader Kim Jong Un declared as complete in November after a slew of weapons tests that included the underground detonation of a purported thermonuclear warhead and flight tests of three intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Some analysts believe Kim is entering the negotiations from a position of strength and is unlikely to accept a significant cut of his arsenal. South Korean and U.S. officials have said he is likely trying to save his broken economy from heavy sanctions,

After the announcement Saturday about testing, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted, “This is very good news for North Korea and the World” and “big progress!”

He also said he’s looking forward to his upcoming summit with Kim.

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said the country is making the move to shift its national focus and improve its economy.

The North vowed to engage with regional neighbours and the international community to secure peace in the Korean Peninsula and create an “optimal international environment” to build its economy.

The announcements came days before Kim is set to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in for a rare summit aimed at resolving the nuclear standoff with Pyongyang.

A separate meeting between Kim and Trump is anticipated in May or June.

The North’s decisions were made in a meeting of the ruling party’s full Central Committee that had convened Friday to discuss a “new stage” of policies.

The Korean Workers’ Party’s Central Committee declared it a “great victory” in the country’s official “byungjin” policy line of simultaneously pursuing economic and nuclear development.

The committee unanimously adopted a resolution that called for concentrating national efforts to achieve a strong socialist economy and “groundbreaking improvements in people’s lives.”

“To secure transparency on the suspension of nuclear tests, we will close the republic’s northern nuclear test site,” the party’s resolution said.

“There is nothing in North Korea’s statement that signals a willingness to give up their nukes,” said Benjamin Silberstein, a North Korea researcher at the University of Pennsylvania.

“On the contrary, the tone of the message is one of confidence and strength,” he said.