OLIVE BRANCH?
Kim Jong-un says he will CLOSE his nuclear test site and has suspended all further missile and nuke launches
North Korea says it no longer needs to conduct tests because it had completed its goal of developing nuclear weapons
KIM Jong-un has said he will CLOSE his nuclear test site and has suspended all further missile and nuke tests with immediate effect, according to state media.
North Korea's leader said his country no longer needs to conduct nuclear or ICBM tests because it had completed its goal of developing nuclear weapons.
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Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that the North is making the move to shift its national focus and improve its economy.
It was the first time Kim directly addressed his position on the North's nuclear weapons programmes ahead of planned summits with South Korean President Moon Jae-in next week.
A separate meeting between Kim and Donald Trump is anticipated in May or June.
In response to Jong-un's announcement, the US President described it as "big progress," adding that he was "looking forward to our summit".
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He said: "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."
South Korea said the North's decision signified "meaningful" progress toward denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and would create favourable conditions for successful meetings with it and the United States.
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.
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"The Chinese side believes that North Korea's decision will help ameliorate the situation on the peninsula," a foreign ministry spokesman, Lu Kang, said in a statement.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also welcomed the North Korean statement but said it must lead to action.
He said: "What's important is that this leads to complete, verifiable denuclearisation. I want to emphasise this."
The North's decisions were made in a meeting of the ruling party's full Central Committee which had convened 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.
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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."
It said: "To secure transparency on the suspension of nuclear tests, we will close the republic's northern nuclear test site."
The agency quoted Kim as saying during the meeting: "Nuclear development has proceeded scientifically and in due order and the development of the delivery strike means also proceeded scientifically and verified the completion of nuclear weapons.
"We no longer need any nuclear test or test launches of intermediate and intercontinental range ballistic missiles and because of this the northern nuclear test site has finished its mission."
The Pyunggye-ri site in northern North Korea is its only known nuclear test site, where all of its six underground tests were conducted, including the last, its largest-ever detonation, in September.
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North Korea's abrupt diplomatic outreach in recent months came after a flurry of weapons tests, including the underground detonation of a possible thermonuclear warhead and three launches of developmental intercontinental ballistic missiles designed to strike the US mainland.
Some analysts see Kim as entering the upcoming negotiations from a position of strength after having declared his nuclear force as complete in November.
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South Korean and US officials have said Kim is likely trying to save his broken economy from heavy sanctions, Seoul says Kim has expressed genuine interest in dealing away his nuclear weapons.
But North Korea for decades has been pushing a concept of "denuclearisation" that bears no resemblance to the American definition, vowing to pursue nuclear development unless Washington removes its troops from the peninsula.
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