FILE- In this June 27, 2008 file image from TV, the demolition of the 60-foot-tall cooling tower at its main reactor complex in Yongbyon North Korea. North Korea's Foreign Ministry said Saturday May... (Associated Press) 
 
 SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Saturday that it will dismantle its nuclear test site on May 23-25, in a dramatic event that would set up leader Kim Jong Un's summit with President Donald Trump next month. 
 
 Kim had revealed plans to shut down the country's northeastern testing ground by the end of May during his summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in last month. Analysts say the closure of the site is mostly symbolic and doesn't represent a material step toward denuclearization. 
 
 In a statement carried by state media, North Korea's Foreign Ministry said that all of the tunnels at the site will be destroyed by explosion, and that observation and research facilities and ground-based guard units will also be removed. 
 
 The North plans to invite journalists from the United States, South Korea, China, Russia and Britain to inspect the process, the statement said. 
 
 Following the Moon-Kim summit, Moon's office said Kim was willing to disclose the process to international experts, but the North's statement Saturday didn't include any mention about allowing experts on the site. 
 
 The North's announcement comes days after Washington announced that the historic summit between Kim and Trump will be held June 12 in Singapore. 
 
 Seoul, which shuttled between Washington and Pyongyang to set up the Trump-Kim meeting, has said Kim has genuine interest in dealing away his nuclear weapons in return for economic benefits. However, there are lingering doubts about whether Kim would ever agree to fully relinquish the weapons he likely views as his only guarantee of survival. 
 
 Kim declared his nuclear forced as complete in December, following the country's most powerful nuclear test to date in September and also three flight tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles designed to reach the U.S. mainland. 
 
 At a ruling party meeting last month, North Korea had already announced that it has suspended all tests of nuclear devices and ICBMs and the plan to close the nuclear testing ground. 
 
 Still, the closure of the site could be a useful precedent for Washington and Seoul as they proceed with the nuclear negotiations with Pyongyang, analysts say. 
 
 "Now that North Korea has accepted in principle that agreements should be verified, U.S. negotiators should hold them to this standard for any subsequent agreement," said Adam Mount, a senior defense analyst at the Federation of American Scientists. "It will make it more difficult for Kim Jong Un to deny inspections now that he has placed them on the table." 
 
 North Korea has invited the outside world to witness the dismantling of its nuclear facilities before. In June 2008, international broadcasters were allowed to air the demolishing of a cooling tower at the Nyongbyon reactor site, a year after the North reached an agreement with the U.S. and four other nations to disable its nuclear facilities in return for an aid package worth about $400 million. ||||| This video has been removed. This could be because it launched early, our rights have expired, there was a legal issue, or for another reason. 
 
 Moon Jae-in says leaders have agreed to steps they say will lead to a nuclear-free peninsula, and Kim pledges to visit Seoul 
 
 North Korea will shut down key missile test facilities in the presence of “international experts” and is willing to close its only known nuclear complex if the United States makes reciprocal measures, South Korean president Moon Jae-in has announced in a joint press conference with Kim Jong-un. 
 
 The two leaders also agreed during a three-day summit in Pyongyang to connect two rail lines, on the east and west side of the peninsula, across one of the most militarised borders in the world. Kim also said he would visit Seoul in the “near future”, a move that would make him the first North Korean leader to visit the South’s capital. 
 
 'Ashamed': South Koreans chilled by Kim Jong-un's cuddles Read more 
 
 North and South Korea agreed that the Korean Peninsula should turn into a “land of peace without nuclear weapons and nuclear threats”, Moon said. Any transport links would require the approval of the US-led United Nations Command, which oversees the border region. 
 
 “There is not only going to be a smooth road ahead, there will be challenges and trials, but the more we overcome them the stronger we will become,” Kim said. “We are not afraid of future challenges.” 
 
 The agreement signed in Pyongyang “will open a higher level for the improvement in relations” between the two Koreas, Kim added, describing it as a “leap forward” toward peace. 
 
 Donald Trump described the meeting as “Very exciting!” in a tweet, and claimed Kim had “agreed to allow nuclear inspections, subject to final negotiations”. 
 
 He later said US relations with North Korea were much improved since he took office. “We’re making tremendous progress with respect to North Korea. Prior to becoming president, it looked like we were going to war with North Korea and now we have a lot of progress,” he told journalists at the White House. 
 
 “A lot of tremendous things but very importantly no missile testing, no nuclear testing.” 
 
 Under the agreement signed by the men, North Korea will shut down the Dongchang-ri missile engine testing facility and missile launch pad, according to Moon. It was not immediately clear what North Korea meant by “reciprocal measures” the US could take so that it would shut its nuclear complex, but it is unlikely Washington would agree to give up any part of its own nuclear arsenal. 
 
 Handshakes and high hopes: the inter-Korean summit – in pictures Read more 
 
 Kim did not mention denuclearisation at any point in his own remarks. The lack of steps specifically on the nuclear issue could worry officials in Washington, and talks between the US and North Korea have stalled in recent weeks. 
 
 Mintaro Oba, a former US diplomat who focused on North Korea policy, said: “I think we can expect a two-tiered response where President Trump remains enthusiastic about engaging with Kim Jong-un, but we also see continued scepticism from US officials about both the purported progress on denuclearisation. 
 
 “But if one thing is clear, it’s that North Korea continues to outmanoeuvre the United States through its willingness to take initiatives that shape the global public narrative and force Washington to choose between engaging on Pyongyang’s terms or looking like it is acting in bad faith.” 
 
 The two Koreas also agreed to establish a joint military committee to resolve any potential conflicts, and each side will withdrawal 11 guard post from the demilitarised zone by the end of the year. The two militaries agreed to a range of measured to prevent accidental clashes, including a no-fly zone near the border and suspending test firing in the area. 
 
 South Korea will allow its citizens to visit the Mount Kumgang tourist region in the North for the first time since 2008, when a North Korean soldier shot and killed a tourist from the South. The two sides will also establish a permanent venue for families divided by the 1950-53 Korean war to meet more frequently. In the past most families could see relatives for only a few hours, and usually only once. 
 
 The two sides also plan to bid to jointly host the 2032 Summer Olympics. ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption North Korea's agreed to shut one of the country's main missile launch sites. Laura Bicker considers what might happen next. 
 
 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has agreed to shut one of the country's main missile testing and launch sites. 
 
 He signed a pledge to permanently close the Tongchang-ri facility, after talks in Pyongyang with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in. 
 
 Both leaders also "agreed on a way to achieve denuclearisation" on the Korean peninsula, Mr Moon said. 
 
 Mr Kim said he hoped to "visit Seoul in the near future" - he would be the first North Korean leader to do so. 
 
 China has welcomed the outcome of the inter-Korean summit, saying both sides had found "new and important common ground". 
 
 What was agreed on denuclearisation? 
 
 The main focus of the summit was the issue of denuclearisation. While the US and North Korea agreed in broad terms earlier this year to work towards that goal, negotiations have stalled. 
 
 Pyongyang has now sought to reconfirm its commitment. 
 
 Mr Kim expressed a readiness to shut down the Yongbyon nuclear facility - where North Korea is believed to have produced the material used in its nuclear tests - if the US took some reciprocal action. The details of that were not specified. 
 
 But he went further on Tongchang-ri, saying the engine missile testing and launch facility would be permanently closed "in the presence of experts from relevant nations". 
 
 The BBC's Seoul correspondent Laura Bicker said the announcement is a major step forward. 
 
 Satellite images suggest Tongchang-ri is in the process of being destroyed, she added, but the declaration will allow inspectors to verify the process. 
 
 Tongchang-ri has been North Korea's main satellite launch facility since 2012, according to monitoring group 38 North. 
 
 It has also been used for testing engines for North Korean missiles capable of reaching the US. 
 
 Read more on North Korea's missile and nuclear programme 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The war that never officially ended 
 
 North Korea blew up its main nuclear testing site at Punggye-ri shortly before Mr Kim's meeting with US President Donald Trump in June. 
 
 "The outcome is a big win for Moon Jae-in, who has managed to extract a series of positive headlines from Kim Jong-un related to denuclearisation," Ankit Panda, editor of The Diplomat, told the BBC. 
 
 "None of the concessions are truly costly to Kim and won't help move North Korea toward short-term disarmament, but provide a further basis for confidence building on which US-North Korea talks can move forward." 
 
 What about North-South relations? 
 
 The two countries also made advances on inter-Korean ties, announcing plans to link up their railways, allow more reunions for families separated by war and co-operate on health care. 
 
 Mr Moon invited the North Korean leader to Seoul, suggesting the visit should take place before the end of this year. 
 
 They will also seek to co-host the 2032 Summer Olympics. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption How North Korea welcomed the South Korean leader 
 
 The South's defence minister and the head of the North Korean army also signed an agreement to reduce military tensions, with a buffer zone to be established along the border to prevent accidental clashes. 
 
 The signing came mid-way through a three-day visit to Pyongyang by Mr Moon. 
 
 While it is the first trip to the North Korean capital in a decade by a leader from the South, it is Mr Moon's third meeting with Kim Jong-un since their historic summit in April. 
 
 What does this mean for the US? 
 
 Efforts towards denuclearisation between the North and the US had recently hit a deadlock and this week's Pyongyang summit will bolster the South's role as a mediator. 
 
 Mr Trump was quick to tweet his applause for the Moon-Kim summit. 
 
 The US and North Korea held their own historic meeting in June when Mr Trump and Mr Kim agreed in broad terms to work towards denuclearisation. 
 
 Since then, however, there has been little progress, with no clear process nor timeline laid out. 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption The June Trump-Kim summit has so far yielded limited results 
 
 Most observers warn that so far the North has taken no meaningful steps to end its controversial nuclear weapons programme and that this week's summit might not be enough to convince them otherwise. 
 
 "For instance, the commitment to shutting down the Yongbyon complex is premised on reciprocal US measures, which raises difficulties," warns Mr Panda. 
 
 "Washington will have to help move the needle here and it's unclear if the Trump administration can do that." 
 
 Mr Trump recently said that he and Mr Kim would "prove everyone wrong", after he received an invitation from the North Korean leader for a second summit. Both sides say they are working on making that meeting happen. ||||| Several key operational buildings as well as smaller sheds have been razed, according to a US monitoring group 
 
 North Korea has begun dismantling the country’s only known nuclear test site, according to satellite photos, following through on a promise made by leader Kim Jong-un ahead of his meeting with Donald Trump. 
 
 
 
 The pictures, taken on 7 May, are “the first definitive evidence that dismantlement of the test site was already well underway”, according to a blog post by 38 North, a website run by former US diplomats. 
 
 The Punggye-ri site in the northeast of the country was used for all of the North’s six nuclear tests and lies deep within mountains. Kim pledged to close the complex after his historic meeting with South Korean president Moon Jae-in, saying North Korea no longer needed the site. 
 
 There were reports the site had collapsed and was unusable, but Kim himself reportedly dismissed those claims, saying “we have two more tunnels that are bigger than the existing ones and that they are in good condition”. North Korea has said it will dismantle its nuclear bomb test site later this month in order to uphold its pledge to cease tests. 
 
 The two countries will hold high-level talks on Wednesday to discuss steps needed to uphold the pledge to denuclearise the Korean peninsula and formally end the Korean War. 
 
 The new images show key buildings and several smaller sheds have been torn down and a rail line connecting one of the entrances had been removed. Excavation of a new tunnel appears to have stopped in March. 
 
 “This activity along with the rail removal could be further evidence of an operational shut down,” according to 38 North. 
 
 North Korea’s plan to close the site has been welcomed by Washington, Seoul and the UN secretary general. 
 
 “I would imagine that the plan is to sanitize the site to remove any sensitive information about the state of North Korea’s nuclear weapons development, then invite in the journalists and experts to confirm that, yes, the site is now a ghost-town,” Jeffrey Lewis and David Schmerler, both arms control experts, wrote in a separate blog post analysis satellite imagery. 
 
 
 
 North Korea’s release of US prisoners doesn’t mean peace | Polly Toynbee Read more 
 
 North Korea’s foreign ministry has said it will invite foreign journalist to witness the decommissioning of the site at Punggye-ri. One new structure could be a camera position to record the closure of the West Portal, 38 North said. 
 
 “Dismantlement of the nuclear test ground will be done in the following sequence-making all tunnels of the test ground collapse by explosion; completely blocking entries; removing all observation facilities, research institutes and structures of guard units on the ground,” the ministry said in a statement released through the state run Korean Central News Agency. 
 
 Dialogue brokered by South Korea has seen US-North Korea relations go from trading personal insults and threats of war last year to a summit between Kim and Trump which will be held in Singapore on 12 June. 
 
 
 
 Washington is seeking the “complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation” of the North and stresses that verification will be key. 
 
 But sceptics warn that Pyongyang has yet to make any public commitment to give up its arsenal, which includes missiles capable of reaching the United States.
– The leaders of the two Koreas have signed what President Trump calls a "very exciting" agreement on the second day of a three-day summit in Pyongyang. South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced in a joint press conference with Kim Jong Un that they had agreed to turn the peninsula into a "land of peace without nuclear weapons," the Guardian reports. Moon said Kim had agreed to permanently close the Tongchang-ri missile launch facility in the presence of international experts, reports the BBC. The Yongbyon nuclear site could also be closed, depending on "reciprocal action" from the US. The leaders also agreed to file a joint bid to host the 2032 Summer Olympics. Trump praised the agreement in a tweet. Kim has "agreed to allow Nuclear inspections, subject to final negotiations, and to permanently dismantle a test site and launch pad in the presence of international experts," he said. "In the meantime there will be no Rocket or Nuclear testing. Hero remains to continue being returned home to the United States." Analysts described the agreement as a small step in the right direction. "Remember that North Korea is still taking baby steps," Melissa Hanham at the James Martin Centre for Nonproliferation Studies tells Reuters. "We don't have a timeline, and we also don’t have any guarantees about the larger nuclear and missile programs."