Just days before peace talks are scheduled to take place between the two countries, South Korea has turned off the loudspeakers that broadcast propaganda along its border with North Korea.

According to the BBC, the broadcasts, which included everything from K-pop music to reports that criticized the North, stopped playing early Monday morning.

The broadcasts would normally be heard by North Korea’s troops and some of its citizens living in the area.

South Korea spokesman Choi Hoi-hyun told reporters that officials hoped the move would “ease the military tension between the two Koreas and develop a peaceful summit atmosphere.”

“We hope this decision will lead both Koreas to stop mutual criticism and propaganda against each other and also contribute in creating peace and a new beginning,” he said.

The broadcasts have been running on and off since the Korean War in an effort to persuade North Korean soldiers to question what their government is telling them.

South Korea didn’t say whether or not they would restart the broadcasts after talks take place with the North.

North Korea also has a system of loudspeakers along the border, which plays reports critical of South Korea and its allies. There has been no word yet as to whether or not the North will follow the South’s lead and turn off its own broadcasts.

The South’s border silence comes just days after North Korea announced it would suspend nuclear tests and close an atomic test site.

As reported by The Western Journal, upcoming talks between the rogue regime and both South Korea and the U.S. could represent a step in the right direction toward North Korea’s complete denuclearization.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in remains optimistic about the North’s alleged willingness to forgo hostilities, saying that demands from North Korea’s Kim Jong Un do not include deal-breakers that might stall a planned summit between the North Korean leader and U.S. President Donald Trump.

“They have not attached any conditions that the U.S. cannot accept, such as the withdrawal of American troops from South Korea,” Moon said.

In years past, North Korea’s demand that American troops leave the region had effectively stalled talks, but Moon maintained that this time around, things are different.

RELATED: Kim Jong Un Is Shutting Down Nuclear Test Site and Suspending Missile Test

“All they are expressing is the end of hostile policies against North Korea, followed by a guarantee of security,” he said.

Moon and Kim are set to meet Friday in the South Korean section of a border village called Panmunjom. The meeting will be the first inter-Korean summit to occur in over a decade.

Kim is set to talk with Trump in person by June. That will be the first time sitting leaders of the U.S. and North Korea officially meet.

What do you think? Scroll down to comment below.</s>U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday claimed North Korea has agreed to "denuclearization" before his potential meeting with Kim Jong Un. But that's not the case.

North Korea said Friday it would suspend nuclear tests and intercontinental ballistic missile launches ahead of summits with the U.S. and South Korea. Kim also said a nuclear test site would be closed and "dismantled" now that the country has learned how to make nuclear weapons and mount warheads on ballistic rockets.

But the North has stopped short of saying it has any intention of abandoning its nuclear arsenal, with Kim making clear that nukes remain a "treasured sword."

Trump nonetheless tweeted Sunday that the North has "agreed to denuclearization (so great for World), site closure, & no more testing!"

Being committed to the concept of denuclearization, however, is not the same as agreeing to it, as Trump claims.

South Korea, which is set to meet with North Korea later this week, has said Kim has expressed genuine interest in dealing away his nuclear weapons. But the North for decades has been pushing a concept of "denuclearization" that bears no resemblance to the American definition, vowing to pursue nuclear development unless Washington removes its troops from the Korean Peninsula and the nuclear umbrella defending South Korea and Japan.

South Korea's president has said Kim isn't asking for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Korean Peninsula as a condition for abandoning his nuclear weapons. If true, that would seem to remove a major sticking point to a potential disarmament deal.

But that still doesn't address a North Korean arsenal that now includes purported thermonuclear warheads and developmental ICBMs developed during a decadeslong cycle of crises, stalemates and broken promises.

Trump agreed to meet with Kim after an invitation was delivered by a South Korean delegation that had just returned from Pyongyang.

"I told President Trump that in our meeting, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he's committed to denuclearization," South Korea's national security adviser later told reporters on the White House driveway. "Kim pledged that North Korea will refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests."

A place and date have yet to be set, but Trump's pick to be the next secretary of state, CIA Director Mike Pompeo, traveled to North Korea on Easter weekend to lay the groundwork for the meeting. Trump has called the talks a success, but it's unclear exactly what was agreed to, if anything, as a condition for the leader-to-leader talks.

"Look, this is a great public relations effort by Kim Jong-un. And I think people recognize that," Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union." But asked whether be believed the North would denuclearize, Corker offered caution.

"Well, I don't think he said anything about denuclearizing on the front end necessarily," he said.

He added on ABC's "This Week" that it's unrealistic to think that "somebody's going to go in and charm" Kim out of keeping his nuclear weapons.

"Is it realistic that he's just willy-nilly going to do that? Absolutely not," Corker said. "But, you know, progress can be made, freezing the program, who knows what he's — what his ambitions are as it relates to South Korea."

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, was equally as skeptical on CBS' "Face the Nation," arguing that North Korea's recent statements are easily reversible and that no announcement has been made about short- or medium-range ballistic missiles that threaten South Korea and Japan.

"Well, I think this announcement on Friday is better than continued testing, but it's not much better than that," he said. "But I do think they show that the president has put Kim Jong Un on the wrong foot for the first time."

Asked what denuclearization means to both sides, White House Legislative Director Marc Short said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that there needs to be a sit-down meeting to make sure everyone's on the same page.

"But I think from our perspective, it means full denuclearization," he said. "No longer having nuclear weapons that can be used in warfare against any of our allies."

Still, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, told CBS that if the president goes through with the meeting, it's "very important" that it "goes well and that there is an ability to put together some terms of an agreement that might exist."

"The question," she said, "is whether it lasts or not. And of course the reputation of the North Koreans has been that they don't necessarily keep their agreements."</s>SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — When North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday, the world will have a single overriding interest: How will they address North Korea's decades-long pursuit of nuclear-armed missiles?

Success, even a small one, on the nuclear front could mean a prolonged detente and smooth the path for a planned summit between Kim and President Donald Trump in May or June. Optimists hope the two summits might even result in a grand nuclear bargain.

North Korea's announcement on Saturday to suspend further nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests and close its nuclear test site raised hopes in Washington and Seoul for a breakthrough in the upcoming nuclear negotiations. However, the North's statement stopped well short of suggesting it has any intentions to give up its nukes or halt its production of missiles.

Failure to reach a nuclear agreement would raise serious questions about the sincerity of Kim's recent outreach to Seoul and Washington and rekindle the fears of war that spread across the Korean Peninsula last year.

A look at the prospects of a North Korean disarmament deal ahead of the two impending summits:

Although North Korea has expressed a willingness to have "candid" talks with the United States about the denuclearization of the peninsula, there's rampant skepticism about whether Kim will give up his nukes.

Those weapons are the core of his authoritarian rule, a "powerful treasured sword" meant to neutralize U.S. nuclear threats. And the North's call for "the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula" has been linked to a demand for the withdrawal of the 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea.

Kim suggested during a trip to Beijing in March that he prefers step-by-step disarmament in return for corresponding concessions. That, critics say, could allow the North to covertly continue its weapons programs while winning badly needed aid, which occurred during now-dormant six-nation nuclear talks from 2003 to 2008.

Analysts say it's likely that Kim will make similar commitments during the inter-Korean summit as a way of reaching out to the United States. Go Myong-Hyun of the Seoul-based Asan Institute for Policy Studies said Kim may also offer up a rough timetable for denuclearization.

North Korea argues that it needs its nukes because of the U.S. military presence in South Korea and annual U.S.-South Korean military exercises that the North claims are an invasion rehearsal.

During the two summits, Kim may demand a security guarantee for his government, the scrapping of what he calls U.S. hostility and the easing or lifting of international sanctions on the North. The Kim-Trump meeting, not the Korean summit, will be the main venue for dealing with nukes because the United States must largely determine whether to accept the North's demands.

Kim, therefore, has an interest in making his meeting with Moon a success, especially following reconciliation in recent months that saw athletes from both countries parade together during the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics opening ceremony and South Korean pop stars perform in Pyongyang.

It's much less clear how the Kim-Trump meeting will go. Trump's pick for secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said recently that "no one is under any illusions that we will reach a comprehensive agreement." Pompeo made a secret trip to meet with Kim and discuss the summit in recent weeks.

Trump seemed more optimistic after North Korea's announcement on Saturday, to which he responded with a tweet saying, "This is very good news for North Korea and the World" and "big progress!" He added that he's looking forward to his upcoming summit with Kim.

U.S. officials have said they want complete, verifiable and irreversible disarmament by North Korea. Kim won't likely accept that anytime soon because he's closing in on his goal of developing nuclear missiles capable of striking the continental U.S. after decades of struggle and sacrifice.

After his country's most-powerful-to-date long-range missile test in November, Kim said the North had "finally realized the great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force." Foreign experts, though, say the North still has a couple of technological barriers to overcome to build reliable intercontinental ballistic missiles.

One disarmament step Kim might have in mind is to freeze or dismantle an ICBM program that poses a direct threat to the United States. Go said Kim could also offer to allow international nuclear inspectors back into his country and promise to dismantle the North's old plutonium-producing reactor at its main nuclear complex because it has a uranium-enrichment plant that can also manufacture bombs.

North Korea could also submit a list of facilities or equipment to be disabled or dismantled and then allow the United States to inspect disarmament procedures. This process, however, could easily be disrupted if the North asks for excessive rewards for partial disarmament steps or the country fails to let outsiders inspect military bases or other sensitive places with possible nuclear weapons.

Kim Taewoo, a former president of the Korea Institute for National Unification, also warned that a deal freezing the North's nuclear capability at current levels or scrapping an ICBM program while leaving intact shorter-range missiles that place South Korea within striking distance won't change security threats South Korea faces. The North already likely has the technology to mount atomic warheads on shorter-range missiles targeting South Korea and Japan.

He said the two upcoming summits are a "huge gamble" for all three leaders if they don't produce a breakthrough. If the summits fail, the world won't tolerate any future Kim Jong Un charm offensive because of a belief that he tried to use the summits to weaken sanctions or buy time to perfect his nuclear program. Trump would be seen as being duped. And Moon would have to choose whether to risk undermining ties with Washington by continuing to improve ties with North Korea.</s></s>No more nuclear tests. A suspension of missile launches. The closing of a nuclear test site at the base of a mountain that's reportedly near collapse.

As far as the North Korean regime's nuclear concessions go, this is the least the government could do, according to non-proliferation experts. What the concessions don't amount to, North Korea observers say, is what U.S. President Donald Trump claimed over the weekend — an agreement from Kim Jong-un to pursue a remarkable offer of complete "denuclearization."

To Western powers, denuclearization would mean nothing short of a complete and irreversible dismantling of the North's nuclear program. Conventional wisdom says that won't happen, as a nuclear deterrent is viewed as vital to the regime's survival, described in propaganda over the weekend as a "treasured sword."

To Pyongyang, though, denuclearization is interpreted as applying to the entire Korean Peninsula, including the withdrawal of American troops from South Korea and the removal of the U.S. "nuclear umbrella" alliance with Seoul.

All of which is to say denuclearization is a complicated matter yet to be hammered out before a historic face-to-face between Trump and the North Korean ruler set to happen by June.

Although Pyongyang's offers don't align completely with U.S. interests, they're still arguably progress — and that makes the Trump-Kim summit worthwhile to scholars like Melissa Hanham, a proliferation researcher with the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.

"North Korea has conceded the easiest things for them to concede, and they're doing it for the photo op," she said. "But I don't want to take away the fact that this is a positive sign, no matter how you cut this up."

Prestige and recognition on the world stage as a true nuclear power would be prized by the regime. On Sunday, NBC News host Chuck Todd characterized the granting of a meeting with Kim as a "huge gift" to an isolated nation aching to be legitimized abroad. Trump, taking issue with the idea he was being played, hit back on Twitter:

Cynics have good reason to be wary of Kim's intentions, given an established diplomatic pattern of coming to the bargaining table, extracting concessions, then reneging on the deal.

"We're not naive in this process," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders sought to assure reporters on Monday.

A photo of a smiling Trump shaking hands with Kim would be "the crown jewel" for the North's propaganda machine, said Harry Kazianis, director of defence studies at the conservative Center for the National Interest.

It would be a "defining moment" for Kim's rule — one that Kazianis said would "show that the regime went toe-to-toe with the great imperialists who destroyed their country decades ago."

While former state department official Mintaro Oba said he has no doubt the U.S. president agreeing to meet with the North Korean leader is a "victory" for the North, the idea it's a substantive concession is overstated, he said.

"This is North Korea manipulating the public narrative," he said. "The suspension of nuclear tests and ICBM tests is a welcome step that certainly helps reduce tension, but it's a step, not a leap. And it's a step that could be easily reversed."

Skeptics suspect Kim's willingness to forgo further nuclear tests likely means he feels happy enough with the development of his nuclear stockpile, Hanham said.

"They've had six nuclear tests, and so have Pakistan and India, for example. So they may feel they have enough advancement, having tested later than those countries, and benefited from the advancements in technology to help them build those weapons."

A capable nuclear weapon to Kim is likely anything that serves as a deterrent, regardless of whether its accuracy has been perfected, Kazianis said. The North has already demonstrated it can strike anywhere within the continental U.S.

"They don't need to land a nuclear weapon right in the windows of the White House," he said.

It's debatable whether promising to close the Punggye-ri nuclear facility at the base of Mount Mantap is also an offer of damaged goods, as the mountain is reportedly on the verge of collapse after six nuclear tests.

"Other nuclear powers have stopped at six tests. India and Pakistan both had six tests, so they don't need to keep blowing up nuclear weapons to know they work," Kazianis said. "You can model this through computer systems."

Kim, quoted by North Korean state media, said the Punggye-ri facility has "completed its mission" and that "under the proven condition of complete nuclear weapons, we no longer need any nuclear tests, mid-range and intercontinental ballistic rocket tests."

It seems, then, that Kim has little to lose. But there are still domestic concerns. Biting sanctions, which the North's trading partner, China, signed onto, have impeded Kim's two-pronged vision of "pyongjin" — the parallel pursuits of nuclear arms and economic development.

It's unlikely Kim would forgo one pursuit for the other, but economic modernization is widely seen as one of an increasingly confident Kim's ultimate goals for stepping out onto the world stage. Blazing a new economic path will require the lifting of sanctions.

Former state department analyst Stephen Noerper, director of the Korea Society at Columbia University, believes there's an opportunity that should be seized upon.

"We have every reason to be guarded, but every reason to open the window and see what the breeze brings in."

If Kim is truly trying to portray himself as a younger and more flexible leader, and if a pathway to economic modernization means an opening to the outside world, "we shouldn't give up on that, because to bring someone in from the cold would be a remarkable accomplishment," Noerper said.

Kim's concessions so far are a start.

"It's easy to say it's better than nothing, and I realize that's a low standard," said former state department nuclear negotiator Robert Gallucci, who helped to broker the 1994 framework with North Korea. "But I'd rather them be making these gestures than no gestures."

Gallucci said it's "nonsense" to consider it a reward if the U.S. starts talking with rival nations.

That Kim and his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae-in, are preparing to meet gives him cautious optimism. It's far from the "fire and fury" rhetoric of last summer, when Guam was being threatened by missiles.

"We were on the edge of what could have been a military strike with ballistics. Now we're on the edge of two summits," Gallucci said. "I like B better than A. So let 'em talk, and let's find out what the deal might be."</s>Analysts say it's likely that Kim will make similar commitments during the inter-Korean summit as a way of reaching out to the United States. Go Myong-Hyun of the Seoul-based Asan Institute for Policy Studies said Kim may also offer up a rough timetable for denuclearization.

North Korea argues that it needs its nukes because of the U.S. military presence in South Korea and annual U.S.-South Korean military exercises that the North claims are an invasion rehearsal.

During the two summits, Kim may demand a security guarantee for his government, the scrapping of what he calls U.S. hostility and the easing or lifting of international sanctions on the North. The Kim-Trump meeting, not the Korean summit, will be the main venue for dealing with nukes because the United States must largely determine whether to accept the North's demands.

Kim, therefore, has an interest in making his meeting with Moon a success, especially following reconciliation in recent months that saw athletes from both countries parade together during the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics opening ceremony and South Korean pop stars perform in Pyongyang.

It's much less clear how the Kim-Trump meeting will go. Trump's pick for secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said recently that "no one is under any illusions that we will reach a comprehensive agreement." Pompeo made a secret trip to meet with Kim and discuss the summit in recent weeks.

Trump seemed more optimistic after North Korea's announcement on Saturday, to which he responded with a tweet saying, "This is very good news for North Korea and the World" and "big progress!" He added that he's looking forward to his upcoming summit with Kim.

U.S. officials have said they want complete, verifiable and irreversible disarmament by North Korea. Kim won't likely accept that anytime soon because he's closing in on his goal of developing nuclear missiles capable of striking the continental U.S. after decades of struggle and sacrifice.

After his country's most-powerful-to-date long-range missile test in November, Kim said the North had "finally realized the great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force." Foreign experts, though, say the North still has a couple of technological barriers to overcome to build reliable intercontinental ballistic missiles.

One disarmament step Kim might have in mind is to freeze or dismantle an ICBM program that poses a direct threat to the United States. Go said Kim could also offer to allow international nuclear inspectors back into his country and promise to dismantle the North's old plutonium-producing reactor at its main nuclear complex because it has a uranium-enrichment plant that can also manufacture bombs.

North Korea could also submit a list of facilities or equipment to be disabled or dismantled and then allow the United States to inspect disarmament procedures. This process, however, could easily be disrupted if the North asks for excessive rewards for partial disarmament steps or the country fails to let outsiders inspect military bases or other sensitive places with possible nuclear weapons.

Kim Taewoo, a former president of the Korea Institute for National Unification, also warned that a deal freezing the North's nuclear capability at current levels or scrapping an ICBM program while leaving intact shorter-range missiles that place South Korea within striking distance won't change security threats South Korea faces. The North already likely has the technology to mount atomic warheads on shorter-range missiles targeting South Korea and Japan.

He said the two upcoming summits are a "huge gamble" for all three leaders if they don't produce a breakthrough. If the summits fail, the world won't tolerate any future Kim Jong Un charm offensive because of a belief that he tried to use the summits to weaken sanctions or buy time to perfect his nuclear program. Trump would be seen as being duped. And Moon would have to choose whether to risk undermining ties with Washington by continuing to improve ties with North Korea.

By Hyung-Jin Kim, The Associated Press</s>SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea halted the propaganda broadcasts it blares across the border at North Korea on Monday ahead of their first summit in a decade, as U.S. President Donald Trump cautioned the nuclear crisis on the peninsula was a long way from being resolved.

North and South Korea are in the final stages of preparations for a summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-In at the border truce village of Panmunjom on Friday.

Ahead of the summit, North Korea announced it would halt nuclear and missile tests and said it was scrapping its nuclear test site to instead pursue economic growth and peace.

“North Korea’s decision to freeze its nuclear program is a significant decision for the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula,” South Korean President Moon Jae-in said in a regular meeting at the Blue House on Monday.

“It is a green light that raises the chances of positive outcomes at the North’s summits with South Korea and the United States. If North Korea goes the path of complete denuclearization starting from this, then a bright future for North Korea can be guaranteed.”

The South’s propaganda broadcasts were stopped at midnight, the defense ministry said, without specifying whether they would resume after the Kim-Moon summit.

“We hope this decision will lead both Koreas to stop mutual criticism and propaganda against each other and also contribute in creating peace and a new beginning,” the South Korean defense ministry said about the decision to halt the broadcasts.

It is the first time in more than two years the South Korean broadcasts, which include a mixture of news, South Korean pop music and criticism of the North Korean regime, have been stopped.

North Korea has its own propaganda loudspeakers at the border, but a defense ministry official said he could not verify whether the North had stopped its broadcasts.

The inter-Korean talks and a planned meeting between Kim and Trump in the coming weeks have raised hopes of an easing in tensions that reached a crescendo last year amid a flurry of North Korean missile tests and its largest nuclear test.

After initially welcoming Pyongyang’s statement on halting nuclear and missile tests, Trump sounded a more cautious note on Sunday.

“We are a long way from conclusion on North Korea, maybe things will work out, and maybe they won’t - only time will tell,” Trump said on Twitter.

Still, South Korean companies with exposure to North Korea rallied after Pyongyang’s weekend announcement.

Shares of Good People (033340.KQ) and Shinwon Corp (009270.KS), which used to operate factories in North Korea’s Kaesong industrial region near the Demilitarized Zone, surged 8 percent and 15 percent, respectively.

China, North Korea’s main ally, also welcomed the North Korean announcement, but editorials in state-run media on Monday were tempered with notes of caution.

The China Daily, the official English-languages newspaper of the Chinese government, said the pledges conveyed the message that Kim will sit down for talks as the leader of a legitimate nuclear power.

“Negotiations about actual nuclear disarmament will likely prove arduous given such weapons are critical to Pyongyang’s sense of security. It will require ironclad security guarantees if it is to relinquish them.”

The Global Times, a hawkish tabloid newspaper run by the ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily, said all parties “should cherish this hard-won state of affairs” and continue to make efforts toward peace and denuclearization.

“Washington should not regard North Korea’s halt to nuclear and missile tests as a result of its maximum pressure,” the Global Times wrote.

“It must be attributed to multiple factors, one of which is that Pyongyang has mastered certain advanced nuclear technologies and successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of more than 10,000 km.”

The United States, through the United Nations, has pursued a series of tightening sanctions on North Korea aimed at cutting its access to foreign currency.

Customs data on Monday showed China’s imports from North Korea fell 87 percent in the first three months of the year, while exports dropped 46 percent.

Tourism, dominated by Chinese visitors, remains a key export earner for North Korea. Chinese tourists have been involved in a major bus accident in North Korea and there are a large number of casualties, Chinese state media and the government said on Monday.</s>South Korea halted anti-North Korea propaganda broadcasts across their tense border on Monday as officials from the two Koreas met again to work out details of their leaders’ upcoming talks, expected to focus on the North’s nuclear program.

Seoul had been blasting propaganda messages and K-pop songs from border loudspeakers since the North’s fourth nuclear test in early 2016. The North quickly matched the South’s action with its own border broadcasts and launches of balloons carrying anti-South Korea leaflets across the border.

READ MORE: Why North Korea’s move to halt weapons testing is a show of strength from Kim Jong-Un

South Korea turned off its broadcasts on Monday to ease military tensions and establish an environment for peaceful talks, Seoul’s Defense Ministry said in a statement. It said Seoul hopes the decision will lead to both sides stopping slander and propaganda activities.

Yonhap news agency, citing an unidentified government source, said that North Korea was believed to have turned off many of its propaganda broadcasts later Monday. Yonhap earlier reported that some North Korean broadcasts were sporadically heard in the South on Monday morning. South Korean defense officials said they couldn’t immediately confirm the status of the North’s broadcasts.

WATCH: North Korea TV says the country will stop nuclear tests, abolish test site

The move comes amid a recent thaw in animosities, with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un trying to reach out to Seoul and Washington after conducting his country’s sixth and most powerful nuclear test and three long-range missile test launches last year.

Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in are to meet at the Korean border village of Panmunjom on Friday in the countries’ third-ever summit talks. Kim is to hold separate talks with U.S. President Donald Trump in May or early June in what would be the first North Korea-U.S. summit.

On Monday, the two Koreas held a third round of working-level talks at Panmunjom and agreed to conduct a joint rehearsal Wednesday of the summit, Moon’s office said in a statement. It said the two sides agreed that Friday’s summit will include a welcoming ceremony and a banquet dinner as well as a formal meeting between Moon and Kim.

The Koreas agreed last week to allow live television broadcasts for key parts of the summit. Monday’s statement said North Korea also agreed on live broadcasts by South Korean media of unspecified events at the northern side of Panmunjom.

The Korean summit is to take place at a South Korean building on the southern side of Panmunjom. This means that Kim must cross the border into South Korea in what would be the first such act by a North Korean leader since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

Kim has said he is willing to place his nuclear program up for negotiation. But it is unclear what disarmament steps he will offer during the two sets of summit talks. U.S. officials have said they want to the North to complete full nuclear disarmament.

North Korea said Saturday it will close its nuclear testing facility and suspend nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests. But it stopped short of suggesting it will give up its nuclear weapons or scale back its production of missiles and their related components.

Trump nonetheless tweeted Sunday that the North has “agreed to denuclearization (so great for World), site closure, & no more testing!”

Trump’s pick to be the next secretary of state, CIA Director Mike Pompeo, traveled to North Korea on Easter weekend to lay the groundwork for the summit meeting. Pompeo’s trip was a clear indication that preparations for the North-U.S. summit are under way, though many U.S. and other foreign experts have had doubts.</s>Trump is claiming that North Korea has agreed to “denuclearization” before his potential meeting with Kim, but that’s not the case.

FILE - This combination of two file photos shows U.S. President Donald Trump, left, speaking in the State Dining Room of the White House, in Washington on Feb. 26, 2018, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attending in the party congress in Pyongyang, North Korea on May 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Wong Maye-E, File)

President Donald Trump on Sunday claimed North Korea has agreed to “denuclearization” before his potential meeting with Kim Jong Un. But that’s not the case.

North Korea said Friday it would suspend nuclear tests and intercontinental ballistic missile launches ahead of summits with the U.S. and South Korea. Kim also said a nuclear test site would be closed and “dismantled” now that the country has learned how to make nuclear weapons and mount warheads on ballistic rockets.

But the North has stopped short of saying it has any intention of abandoning its nuclear arsenal, with Kim making clear that nukes remain a “treasured sword.”

Trump nonetheless tweeted Sunday that the North has “agreed to denuclearization (so great for World), site closure, & no more testing!”

Being committed to the concept of denuclearization, however, is not the same as agreeing to it, as Trump claims.

South Korea, which is set to meet with North Korea later this week, has said Kim has expressed genuine interest in dealing away his nuclear weapons. But the North for decades has been pushing a concept of “denuclearization” that bears no resemblance to the American definition, vowing to pursue nuclear development unless Washington removes its troops from the Korean Peninsula and the nuclear umbrella defending South Korea and Japan.

South Korea’s president has said Kim isn’t asking for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Korean Peninsula as a condition for abandoning his nuclear weapons. If true, that would seem to remove a major sticking point to a potential disarmament deal.

But that still doesn’t address a North Korean arsenal that now includes purported thermonuclear warheads and developmental ICBMs developed during a decadeslong cycle of crises, stalemates and broken promises.

Trump agreed to meet with Kim after an invitation was delivered by a South Korean delegation that had just returned from Pyongyang.

“I told President Trump that in our meeting, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he’s committed to denuclearization,” South Korea’s national security adviser later told reporters on the White House driveway. “Kim pledged that North Korea will refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests.”

A place and date have yet to be set, but Trump’s pick to be the next secretary of state, CIA Director Mike Pompeo, travelled to North Korea on Easter weekend to lay the groundwork for the meeting. Trump has called the talks a success, but it’s unclear exactly what was agreed to, if anything, as a condition for the leader-to-leader talks.

“Look, this is a great public relations effort by Kim Jong-un. And I think people recognize that,” Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” But asked whether be believed the North would denuclearize, Corker offered caution.

“Well, I don’t think he said anything about denuclearizing on the front end necessarily,” he said.

He added on ABC’s “This Week” that it’s unrealistic to think that “somebody’s going to go in and charm” Kim out of keeping his nuclear weapons.

“Is it realistic that he’s just willy-nilly going to do that? Absolutely not,” Corker said. “But, you know, progress can be made, freezing the program, who knows what he’s — what his ambitions are as it relates to South Korea.”

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, was equally as skeptical on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” arguing that North Korea’s recent statements are easily reversible and that no announcement has been made about short- or medium-range ballistic missiles that threaten South Korea and Japan.

“Well, I think this announcement on Friday is better than continued testing, but it’s not much better than that,” he said. “But I do think they show that the president has put Kim Jong Un on the wrong foot for the first time.”

Asked what denuclearization means to both sides, White House Legislative Director Marc Short said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that there needs to be a sit-down meeting to make sure everyone’s on the same page.

“But I think from our perspective, it means full denuclearization,” he said. “No longer having nuclear weapons that can be used in warfare against any of our allies.”

Still, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, told CBS that if the president goes through with the meeting, it’s “very important” that it “goes well and that there is an ability to put together some terms of an agreement that might exist.”

“The question,” she said, “is whether it lasts or not. And of course the reputation of the North Koreans has been that they don’t necessarily keep their agreements.”

Related: Trump could bail on meeting with Kim

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.</s>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had been "very honourable" and that discussions ahead of a planned meeting between the two leaders were going well.

"We have been told directly that they would like to have the meeting as soon as possible, and we think that's a great thing for the world," Trump told reporters during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House.

"We're having ... very good discussions. Kim Jong Un, he really has been very open and I think very honourable from everything we're seeing," Trump added.

Trump has said he could meet with Kim in late May or June.

The United States is pressing North Korea to denuclearize and has said it would keep up a policy of "maximum pressure" on Pyongyang to achieve that goal.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Thursday North Korea had expressed a commitment to "complete denuclearization" of the Korean peninsula, and North Korea said on Saturday it would immediately suspend nuclear and missile tests.

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
South Korea ceases loudspeaker broadcasts directed at soldiers over the North Korean border ahead of a planned meeting later this week between leaders Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong Un.