North Korean Leader Says He Will Suspend Arms Tests and Shut Test Site

Source: N.Y Times

April 20, 2018 at 19:19

A South Korean official testing the hotline with a North Korean counterpart on Friday. Credit South Korean Presidential Blue Hous

It also said the North would “shut down a nuclear test site in the country’s northern side to guarantee transparency in suspending nuclear tests.”

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, announced early Saturday that he had stopped nuclear and missile tests and would close a nuclear test site.

The announcement, reported by North Korea’s state media, appeared to signal a major policy shift ahead of Mr. Kim’s meetings with the South Korean and American leaders.

But Mr. Kim stopped short of promising to dismantle the nuclear weapons and long-range missiles North Korea has already built, holding onto them probably as a bargaining chip when he sits down with South Korea’s leader, Moon Jae-in, next Friday, and President Trump weeks later.

In a new policy proposed to a meeting of the Central Committee of his ruling Workers’ Party on Friday, Mr. Kim said his country required no further nuclear and long-range missile tests because it had already achieved a nuclear deterrent. It was now time to focus on rebuilding the economy, he said.

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