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Agencies

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has declared he will suspend nuclear and missile tests starting from Saturday, and that he will shut down the site where the previous six nuclear tests were conducted.
“I solemnly declare that we have accomplished credible weaponisation of nuclear forces,” Kim was quoted as saying at a Friday party meeting. 

“Our decision to suspend nuclear tests is part of the world’s important steps for nuclear disarmament and our republic will join global efforts to completely suspend nuclear tests.”
On Saturday, US President Donald Trump tweeted that progress was being made.

A message from Kim Jong Un: “North Korea will stop nuclear tests and launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles.”
Also will “Shut down a nuclear test site in the country’s Northern Side to prove the vow to suspend nuclear tests.” Progress being made for all!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21, 2018

“A message from Kim Jong Un: ‘North Korea will stop nuclear tests and launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles.’ Also will ‘Shut down a nuclear test site in the country’s Northern Side to prove the vow to suspend nuclear tests.’ Progress being made for all!” he wrote. 
Earlier, Trump described Kim’s announcement as ‘good news’, also on Twitter.

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.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 20, 2018

South Korea said the North’s decision signified “meaningful” progress toward denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and would create favourable conditions for successful meetings with it and the US. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also welcomed the North Korean statement but said it must lead to action.
“What’s important is that this leads to complete, verifiable denuclearisation. I want to emphasise this,” Abe told reporters.


Japan’s Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera and US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis pledged to maintain “maximum pressure” on North Korea to force it to give up its nuclear and missile programmes, Onodera told reporters after talks with Mattis at the Pentagon.
Still up in the air: where will Trump and Kim hold their summit?
They “affirmed they would maintain pressure and sanctions to compel North Korea to abandon all weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programmes in a complete, verifiable and irreversible fashion”, according to the Japanese minister.

The comments came before his planned meeting next week with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and a possible summit with US President Donald Trump in May or June.
“From April 21, North Korea will stop nuclear tests and launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles,” the Korean Central News Agency said in a report on Saturday.
North Korea calls for ‘total end to nukes on peninsula’ 
The remarks came out of a meeting of the Central Committee of the ruling Worker’s Party of Korea held on Friday to discuss policy issues related to “a new stage” in a “historic” period.
“The North will shut down a nuclear test site in the country’s northern side to prove the vow to suspend nuclear test,” KCNA reported.


Moon has said that Kim is willing to discuss denuclearisation and that he will not insist on American troops being withdrawn from South Korea as part of any deal.
North Korea has named its new ‘first lady’, and she’s a familiar face
North Korea has defended its nuclear and missile programmes in the face of worldwide condemnation and sanctions as a necessary deterrent against perceived US 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 Moon and Trump to discuss denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.


“This is a very serious initiative, it fits right in with North Korean policy and what they’ve been saying for a while,” said Joel Wit, a senior fellow at the US-Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies who was involved in North Korea talks from 1993 to 1995, referring to Kim’s statement. “They’ve decided that this is the moment to shift gears and to focus on developing their economy, end of story.”
“I don’t know exactly how they’ll go about it,” he said. “But they’re not going to give up their nuclear weapons without reciprocal steps from the US and others. But this is another sign that they are serious.”


North Korea’s Kim Jong-un calls for military overhaul in line with modern warfare

China steps up North Korea connections as regular Beijing-Pyongyang flights resume

North Korea tests powerful missile engine. Will an ICBM launch follow?

North Korea and Belarus sign friendship treaty on Lukashenko’s first visit

Kim Jong-un

North Korea suspends nuclear and missile tests, gaining praise from US President Donald Trump

File photo of the test launch of a North Korean Hwasong-12 intermediate range missile. Photo: AP

FILE PHOTO - North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un speaks during a New Year's Day speech in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang on January 1, 2018. KCNA / via REUTERS/File Photo ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. NOT FOR USE BY REUTERS THIRD PARTY DISTRIBUTORS. SOUTH KOREA OUT.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, left, and Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera, right, stand together during an Honor Cordon at the Pentagon, Friday, April 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Explainer: Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un’s meeting could take place in numerous locations - here’s where and why 

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump. Officials from both nations are discussing venues for possible negotiations between the two men.  Photo: KCNA/KNS via AFP 

FILE - In this March 26, 2018, file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, shake hands at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. As the U.S.-North Korea summit looms, President Donald Trump’s policy of maximum pressure on North Korea may be working - thanks to China. Beijing appears to have gone well beyond U.N. sanctions on its unruly neighbor, reducing its total imports from North Korea in the first two months this year by 78.5 and 86.1 percent in value. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

Competitors run through Kim Il Sung square during the annual Pyongyang marathon on April 8, 2018. The event - part of the celebrations of the anniversary of Kim Il Sung's birth in 1912 - has consistently been its annual peak for Western tourism to the isolated country, offering visitors the chance to run or jog through the streets of Pyongyang. / AFP PHOTO / Ed JONES

Feature on Trans-Siberian railway from Ulan Bator to Moscow. This image shows a sculpture in Sukhbaatar Square, Ulaan Baatar. Damdin Sukhbaatar waves his arm expansively at a row of glass and concrete. [16AUG2015 POST MAGAZINE - FEATURE1]

epaselect epa06678615 South Korean soldiers stand guard at the Joint Security Area (JSA) on the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea, 18 April 2018 (issued 19 April 2018). The Inter-Korean summit will take in the truce village of Panmunjom on 27 April. EPA-EFE/JEON HEON-KYUN

North Korea calls for ‘total end to nukes on peninsula’ without demanding US military leaves, according to South

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un watches the launch of a Hwasong-12 missile in this undated photo. Photo: KCNA via Reuters

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Trump welcomed Kim Jong-un’s announcement, saying progress was being made


US President Donald Trump welcomed Kim Jong-un’s announcement, saying progress was being made


North Korea nuclear crisis

United States

North Korea suspends nuclear and missile tests, gaining praise from US President Donald Trump

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Trump welcomed Kim Jong-un’s announcement, saying progress was being made

Trump welcomed Kim Jong-un’s announcement, saying progress was being made