Seoul, April 21 (IANS) North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has announced the immediate suspension of nuclear and missile tests, media reports said on Saturday.

“From April 21, North Korea will stop nuclear tests and launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles,” Efe quoted Kim as saying.

North Korea will also “shut down a nuclear test site in the country’s northern side to guarantee transparency in suspending nuclear tests,” the report added.

Having established a nuclear deterrent, North Korea can now turn to overhauling its economy, Kim said.

Pyongyang’s move comes ahead of Kim’s April 27 summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in the demilitarized zone that separates the two countries.

The last in-person talks between the leaders of North and South Korea took place 11 years ago.

What will be the first-ever encounter between the leaders of North Korea and the US is expected to happen in late May or early June.

US President Donald Trump, who accepted Kim’s proposal for a meeting after months that saw the two men trade insults and threats, hailed the announcement from Pyongyang.

“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,” Trump wrote on Twitter.</s>SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea will suspend nuclear and missile tests effective immediately and abolish a nuclear test site in a bid to pursue economic growth and peace on the Korean peninsula, the North's state media said on Saturday, ahead of planned summits with South Korea and the United States.

 North Korea leader Kim Jong Un said his country no longer needed to conduct nuclear tests or intercontinental ballistic missile tests because it has completed its goal of developing nuclear weapons, state media Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

 “To guarantee suspension of nuclear tests in a transparent manner, the republic’s northern nuclear test site will be abolished," the KCNA said after Kim convened this year's first plenary session of the Central Committee of the ruling Worker's Party on Friday.

 “The overall projects of the party and the country will be geared towards building of a socialist economy, and all our efforts will be made towards it,” the KCNA said.

 North Korea also said it would engage in talks with the international community, paving the way for the summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in planned for next week and a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in late May or early June.

 Trump on Friday welcomed the statement and said he looked forward to a summit with Kim.

 "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," Trump said on Twitter.

 North Korea has defended its nuclear and missile programs in the face of worldwide condemnation and sanctions as a necessary deterrent against perceived U.S. hostility. 

 Tensions eased significantly after North Korea's Kim called in a New Year's speech for lower military tensions and improved ties with South Korea. 

 It sent a delegation to the Winter Olympics held in South Korea and agreed to meet with Moon and Trump to discuss denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

 The ruling party's plenary meeting on Friday was convened to discuss "policy issues of a new stage" to meet the demands of the current "important historic period," the KCNA said.

 

 (Reporting by Cynthia Kim and Soyoung Kim; Additional reporting by Heekyong Yang; Editing by Toni Reinhold)</s>President Donald Trump has hailed North Korea‘s announcement that it will be ceasing nuclear and ballistic missile testing, and will soon shutter its nuclear test site.

Trump tweeted that the news represented “big progress,” and said he was looking forward to his upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.

North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said earlier Saturday that the country would suspend nuclear testing activity ahead of upcoming negotiations with South Korea and the U.S., adding that the move was part of a shift in focus towards improving its national economy.

However, the North didn’t indicate whether it’s willing to get rid of its existing arsenal of weapons.

READ MORE: North Korea says it will suspend nuclear and missile testing

South Korea’s presidential Blue House also welcomed the announcement, which came a day after the installation of the first-ever telephone hotline between the leaders of North and South Korea.

“The decision represents meaningful progress on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, for which the world has been longing,” read a statement from the Blue House.

“This will contribute to creating a very positive environment for the success of the upcoming 2018 Inter-Korean Summit and the summit between North Korea and the U.S. We will do our utmost to prepare for the summit so that it can lead the way toward denuclearization and toward the permanent establishment of peace on the Korean Peninsula.”

READ MORE: North, South Korea connect hotline between leaders ahead of rare summit

The inter-Korean summit between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in will take place Apr. 27 at the border truce village on Panmunjom.

Kim is then expected to meet with Trump in May or June.

— With files from the Associated Press</s>North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has announced his country no longer needs nuclear or missile tests and that it would shut down its nuclear weapons test site.

"The nuclear test site has done its job," Kim said in a statement carried by North Korea's state media. The report also said the decision was made in a bid to pursue economic growth and peace on the Korean Peninsula.

President Trump tweeted Friday night about the announcement from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and said it was a sign, "Progress being made for all." His tweet said: "A message from Kim Jong Un: "North Korea will stop nuclear tests and launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles."

NPR's Elise Hu reports for our Newscast unit that North Korea's announcement comes ahead of a major summit between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.



"The two Korean leaders are set to meet at their shared border next Friday after months of furious diplomacy, signs of good will and reestablishing ties. Now Kim is making a show of announcing a suspension of testing, even though North Korea already stopped testing its weapons months ago. Pyongyang watchers say they'll believe North Korea is denuclearizing when they actually see it. Robert Kelly, a professor at South Korea's Pusan National University who blogs about regional security, told Elise: "We're gonna have to see things actually being sawed in half or cut in half or detonated before people are gonna actually believe it. I mean, North Korea has a real credibility problem going back several decades." "In the announcement of a test freeze, Kim did not mention dismantling his nuclear weapons or long-range missiles."



South Korea's presidential office welcomed North Korea's announcement as "meaningful progress" toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

"China's foreign ministry also reacted to the move by North Korea to halt nuclear and missile tests. A statement on its website read, "China welcomes this." "Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed caution to North Korea 's announcement. While a positive development, he adds, "What is crucial here, however, is how this development is going to lead to the complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of nuclear arms, weapons of mass destruction and missiles."</s>North Korea said it has suspended nuclear and long-range missile tests as Kim Jong Un gears up for a possible meeting with President Trump.

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said the country is planning to close its nuclear test site and focus on improving the economy.

The news came just days after Trump announced CIA Director Mike Pompeo secretly met with Kim last week and formed a “good relationship.”

During the meeting, Kim assured Pompeo that a summit with Trump — slated for June — would coincide with the release of three U.S. citizens detained in North Korea, according to sources who spoke to the Wall Street Journal.

Otto Warmbier, a University of Virginia student who was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for stealing a propaganda poster during a tour of North Korea, was released from the regime in a coma.

Trump accused North Korea of torturing Warmbier, and the 22-year-old died in June 2017 just days after his return to the U.S.

Three Americans are still detained in North Korea. Businessman Kim Dong Chul was charged with spying and stealing state secrets in 2016, while academic Kim Sang-duk and Kim Hak-song were both arrested in 2017.

On Saturday, KCNA quoted Kim saying they were stopping the tests because the country had already achieved its goals.

CIA's Mike Pompeo had secret meet with Kim Jong Un in North Korea

“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,” Kim was quoted as saying.

The North also vowed to actively engage with regional neighbors and the international community to secure peace in the Korean Peninsula and create an “optimal international environment” to build its economy.

Trump, who wants Kim’s regime to get rid of its nuclear weapons, hailed the news in a tweet on Friday.

“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,” the tweet said.

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 U.S. 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.

Other experts cautioned that North Korea could easily reverse its stance.

South Korean and U.S. officials have said Kim is likely trying to save his broken economy from heavy sanctions, and Seoul says Kim has expressed genuine interest in dealing away his nuclear weapons.

But North Korea 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 peninsula.

The announcements came days before North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is set to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in in a border truce village for a rare summit aimed at resolving the nuclear standoff with Pyongyang.</s>North Korean leader Kim Jong Un announced early Saturday morning that the regime no longer needs nuclear tests or intercontinental ballistic missile tests . Kim said Saturday that "under the proven condition of complete nuclear weapons, we no longer need any nuclear tests, mid-range and intercontinental ballistic rocket tests, and that the nuclear test site in northern area has also completed its mission," state-run KCNA reported Saturday. CNN reports:U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed the news, tweeting : "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."</s>North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has given his young, stylish wife the title of First Lady in what analysts say is a major boost to her status ahead of back-to-back summits with South Korea and the United States.

Ri Sol Ju has often accompanied Kim to official events but made her first solo public appearance last weekend at a ballet performance by a visiting Chinese troupe.

The North's state media reported the outing referring to her as the "respected First Lady" - the first time the title has been used in more than 40 years, and with the addition of an adjective usually reserved for the country's leaders.

North Korea's elderly star anchorwoman Ri Chun Hee - who is often drafted in for major announcements - delivered the news of her attendance on television, further enhancing Ri's standing.

Dressed in a dusty pink two-piece skirt suit, Ri was accompanied by senior North Korean officials often seen with the leader, including Kim's younger sister, Yo Jong.

Ri, a former star singer, emerged in 2012 and has been regarded as one of the most high-profile women in the isolated, deeply patriarchal nation, but with a limited role as Kim's stylish, coy wife.

Analysts say her promotion is likely to be part of an effort to paint North Korea as a "normal state" as it prepares for summits with South Korean President Moon Jae-in next Friday and later with US President Donald Trump.

It also gives her a title matching that of their wives Kim Jung-sook and Melania.

"Promoting Ri Sol Ju is the most effective marketing strategy," An Chan-il, a defector researcher who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies, told AFP.

"The summit is being held as equals, so if Melania Trump attends, Ri will attend," he said, noting that the North Korean leader's wife accompanied him when he went to Beijing last month on his first overseas trip since inheriting power.

Ri was previously referred to as "comrade" by the North's state media, and the weekend report was the first time the "First Lady" title had been used to describe the leader's spouse since 1974, when it was applied to Kim Song Ae, the second wife of North Korea's founder Kim Il Sung.

Little is known about Ri, who is believed to be 29 and to have three children with Kim, at least one of them a daughter.

South Korean intelligence reports have described her as coming from an ordinary family with a teacher father and a doctor mother.

A former member of the North's Unhasu Orchestra, Ri reportedly attended a music school in China and visited South Korea in 2005 as a cheerleader for her country's squad in an international sporting event.

She is known to be a fashion aficionado and is often pictured wearing luxury outfits - on one occasion carrying what appeared to be a Christian Dior handbag - in a country plagued by chronic poverty.

Some analysts point to Kim's marginalised mother Ko Yong Hui as another factor driving Ri's expanded role.

Ko, an ethnic Korean from Japan, had three children with Kim's father and predecessor Kim Jong Il, but had a low profile throughout her 28-year marriage.

She died in 2004, reportedly from breast cancer, and her body is said to have been secretly flown from Paris, where she was being treated, to Pyongyang.

A grave was only built for her in 2012, after Kim inherited power.

"I think Kim Jong Un's trauma of watching his own mother living in the shadows also factored in," said Shin Beom-chul, an analyst at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies.

"Growing up watching his mother could have motivated him to elevate the status of his wife."

Unlike his father and grandfather, Kim is often seen accompanied by the women in his life - namely Ri and Yo Jong - in a break from the past when leaders' spouses or sisters rarely made public appearances.

Kim sent his younger sister to the Winter Games in the South on a diplomatic charm offensive.

His late father was known to be blunt and secretive, but the younger Kim - whose regime stands accused of widespread human rights violations by critics - has cultivated an outgoing and informal style, and his marriage also appears to be different.

According to the Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun, Ri referred to the North Korean leader as "my husband" in a meeting with the South's officials in Pyongyang, and giggled and clapped when one of them suggested that Kim quit smoking.</s>Palm Beach (United States): US president Donald Trump on Wednesday hailed a "great" clandestine meeting between his CIA chief and North Korea's leader, as he signalled that his improbable summit with Kim Jong-un will go ahead.

News of the Easter weekend talks between Mike Pompeo and the reclusive Kim was the latest in a series of revelations from the US leader that have fuelled hopes of a major diplomatic breakthrough with Pyongyang.

Heaping praise on Pompeo — the man he has already tapped to be the next secretary of state — Trump said the 54-year-old's covert mission to the North Korean capital had gone well.

"He just left North Korea. Had a great meeting with Kim Jong Un, and got along with him really well, really great," Trump said. "He's very smart but he gets along with people."

Trump earlier tweeted that the "meeting went very smoothly and a good relationship was formed."

"Details of Summit are being worked out now," added the president, who is hosting Japan's prime minister Shinzo Abe for two days of talks at his Florida retreat, which he calls the "Winter White House."

Neither Trump nor the White House offered details of what was discussed and it remains unclear if there is enough potential for an agreement to have the Trump-Kim summit, slated for early June, go ahead.

Officials and outside experts say it is still not clear that Kim, who depends on the military to remain in power, is willing to completely give up his nuclear weapons.

North Korean talk of "denuclearization" — which Trump has seemingly embraced — has in the past been code for removing America's military presence on the Korean peninsula, something long unthinkable in Washington.

"Denuclearization will be a great thing for World, but also for North Korea!" Trump added in the tweet.

Nonetheless, the flurry of diplomatic activity has raised hopes for a pair of upcoming and potentially historic summits.

Kim is expected to meet South Korea's president Moon Jae-in next week for landmark talks at which discussion of a formal peace declaration is now on the cards.

The 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty, leaving the two sides technically at war. The Demilitarised Zone between them bristles with minefields and fortifications.

Seoul's push to formally declare an end to inter-Korean hostilities would have been unthinkable just months ago.

"We are looking at the possibility of replacing the armistice regime on the Korean peninsula with a peace regime," a senior official at South Korea's presidential Blue House said on Wednesday.

"But this is not something we can do by ourselves. It needs close discussions with relevant parties including North Korea."

Trump earlier said that the summit could, with his "blessing," explore a peace treaty to formally end the conflict.

But reaching any final treaty would be fraught with complications.

While the US-led United Nations command, China and North Korea are signatories to the decades-old armistice, South Korea is not.

Both Pyongyang and Seoul claim sovereignty over the whole Korean peninsula, but a treaty could imply mutual recognition of each other.

Next week's meeting will be just the third summit between the North and South since the armistice was signed 65 years ago.

Key moments including Kim and Moon's first handshake will be televised live, both sides agreed at working-level talks on Wednesday, Seoul said.

Trump himself plans to hold a summit meeting with Kim within the next two months.

The pair have not spoken directly, the White House said, but the president revealed on Tuesday there had been contact at "very high levels" to prepare for the historic meeting - an apparent reference to Pompeo's visit.

Trump also said that "five locations" were being considered for the summit.

"That will be taking place probably in early June or before that, assuming things go well. It's possible things won't go well and we won't have the meetings and we'll just continue to go on this very strong path we have taken."

US officials say that no decision has yet been made on a meeting venue, but China, North Korea, South Korea, and Panmunjom in the Demilitarised Zone are seen as possible locations.</s>SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Saturday it has suspended nuclear and long-range missile tests and plans to close its nuclear test site ahead of a new round of negotiations with South Korea and the United States. There was no clear indication in the North's announcement if it would be willing to deal away its arsenal.

The North rather expressed confidence about its nuclear force, which leader Kim Jong Un declared as complete in November after a slew of weapons tests that included the underground detonation of a purported thermonuclear warhead and flight tests of three intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Some analysts believe Kim is entering the negotiations from a position of strength and is unlikely to accept a significant cut of his arsenal or go significantly beyond freezing a nuclear program. South Korean and U.S. officials have said Kim is likely trying to save his broken economy from heavy sanctions.

After the announcement Saturday about testing, President Donald Trump tweeted, "This is very good news for North Korea and the World" and "big progress!"

He also said he's looking forward to his upcoming summit with Kim.

South Korea's presidential office welcomed North Korea's announcement as "meaningful progress" toward the denuclearization of the peninsula. Presidential official Yoon Young-chan said in a statement that the North's decision brightens the prospects for successful talks between Seoul, Pyongyang and Washington.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency said the country is making the move to shift its national focus and improve its economy.

The North also vowed to actively engage with regional neighbors and the international community to secure peace on the peninsula and create an "optimal international environment" to build its economy.

The announcement came days before Kim is set to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in in a border truce village for a rare summit aimed at resolving the nuclear standoff with Pyongyang.

A separate meeting between Kim and Trump is anticipated in May or June.

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 Central Committee declared a "great victory" in the country's official "byungjin" policy of simultaneously pursuing economic and nuclear development.

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."

"To secure transparency on the suspension of nuclear tests, we will close the republic's northern nuclear test site," the party's resolution said.

The official news 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."

Seoul says Kim has expressed genuine interest in dealing away his nuclear weapons. But North Korea 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 peninsula.

South Korean scientists have questioned whether the North could continue conducting underground nuclear detonations at its mountainous test site in Kilju in the northeast due to a series of earthquakes that were likely triggered by the activity, suggesting it's too unstable for further bomb tests.

At the height of Pyongyang's standoff with Washington and Seoul last year, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho told reporters the country could conduct an atmospheric hydrogen bomb test over the Pacific Ocean.</s>North Korea has said it will halt the conducting of nuclear and missile tests effective immediately.

The secretive country will also abolish a nuclear test site in a bid to pursue economic growth and peace on the Korean peninsula, the North's state media said.

Kim Jong-un is believed to have vowed to fulfil his pledge made ahead of his meeting with Donald Trump.

Kim said his country no longer needed to conduct nuclear tests or intercontinental ballistic missile tests because it has completed its goal of developing nuclear weapons.

“To guarantee suspension of nuclear tests in a transparent manner, the republic’s northern nuclear test site will be abolished," state media Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

“The overall projects of the party and the country will be geared towards building of a socialist economy, and all our efforts will be made towards it."

North Korea also said it would engage in talks with the international community, paving the way for the summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in planned for next week and a meeting with Donald Trump in late May or early June.

Trump on Friday welcomed the statement and said he looked forward to a summit with Kim.

"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," Trump said on Twitter.

It comes after The US Secretary of State held a top-secret meeting with leader Kim over Easter.

Mike Pompeo, who is still to be confirmed in his new job, was sent by the President to hold historic talks, the Washington Post reported.

Former secretary of state Rex Tillerson was fired on March 13 with Pompeo moving in from his previous position as director of the CIA.

Pompeo was immediately shipped off to North Korea where he met with dictator Jong-Un to discuss a summit with his boss.

Trump alluded to the clandestine mission when he said the US had held direct talks with North Korea at "extremely high levels".

"We have had direct talks at very high levels, extremely high levels, with North Korea," Trump said.

"And I really believe this allows good will, that good things are happening.

"We'll see what happens, as they always say, we'll see what happens, because ultimately it's the end result that counts, not the fact that we're thinking about having a meeting or having a meeting."

Trump said the US respected North Korea, and that this was recipricated.

South Korean actress once kidnapped and forced to make films for North Korea dies aged 92

Trump spoke at a picture-taking session with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as they opened two days of talks at the president's Mar-a-Lago retreat in Palm Beach, Florida.

He said US officials are looking at five different locations for a late-May or early-June meeting with Kim Jong Un.

Asked if any of those were in the United States, Trump said 'no'.

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Trump and Abe are having talks largely focused on the prospective summit with Kim as Japan seeks a US commitment that any denuclearisation deal the president seals with Kim will include not just long-range missiles but those that could be aimed at Japan.

The US president said however it was possible that diplomatic efforts to arrange a summit will fall short.

"It's possible things won't go well and we won't have the meetings and we'll just continue to go on this very strong path we have taken," he said.

Trump also backed efforts between South Korea and the North aimed to end a state of war that has existed between the two countries since 1953.

"They do have my blessing to discuss the end of the war.

"People don't realize the Korean War has not ended. It's going on right now. And they are discussing an end to the war.

"Subject to a deal they have my blessing and they do have my blessing to discuss that," he said.

Abe said Japan would like North Korea to agree to a complete, verifiable denuclearisation and that Trump had shown "courage" in attempting to set up a summit with Kim Jong Un.

"Japan and ourselves are locked and we are unified on the subject of North Korea," the US president added.

Trump has forged close ties with Abe during his 15 months in power and the two have bonded over rounds of golf during Abe's last visit to Florida more than a year ago and Trump's visit to Tokyo last November.
North Korea leader Kim Jong-un announces that North Korea will suspend its missile and nuclear tests and has agreed to shut down its nuclear test sites.