April 20, 2018//-North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said his country will suspend all missile tests and shut down a nuclear test site, state media say.
“From April 21, North Korea will stop nuclear tests and launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles,” the Korean Central News Agency said.
Mr Kim’s decision comes a week before he is due to meet his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in.
North Korea has defied international sanctions over its weapons programme.
In November, it said it had successfully tested a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile that could reach the whole of the continental United States.
The test drew swift international condemnation. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Pyongyang had shown “complete disregard for the united view of the international community”.
The latest announcement comes during a thawing of relations between North and South Korea.
A telephone hotline has been set up between Mr Kim and his South Korean counterpart, and the two leaders are scheduled to meet next week for the first inter-Korean summit in over a decade.
Mr Kim is also expected to hold a summit with US President Donald Trump by June. If it takes place, it will be the first meeting between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader.
BBC
