Iran Press/Asia: according to Reuters, South Korea's President Moon Jae-in announced at a joint news conference with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday in Pyongyang that Kim has agreed to permanently shut down one of the country' main missile facilities in the presence of foreign experts.
South Korean President and North Korean leader also stated that they agreed to turn the Korean peninsula into a “land of peace without nuclear weapons and nuclear threats” and take “prompt steps” toward the goal.
The third summit this year between the leaders of the two Koreas was aimed at improving ties between the hostile neighbors and rekindling stalled negotiations on the North’s nuclear program between Pyongyang and Washington.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged to work toward the “complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula” during his two meetings with South Korean President Moon Jae-in earlier this year.
But discussions over how to implement the vague commitments have since faltered.
Meanwhile, Kim said he will visit Seoul in the near future, in what would be the first-ever visit to the South’s capital by a North Korean leader. Moon said the visit was expected to take place by the end of the year.
Leaders of North and South Korea plan to sign a joint statement on inter-Korean relations after their summit on Wednesday in the North’s capital Pyongyang, Seoul officials said.
Moon and Kim also had a surprise meeting at the border in May, making Moon the only South Korean leader to have met a North Korean leader twice. A visit by Moon to Pyongyang would be the first to be held this year in North Korea’s capital.
The North has been heavily sanctioned over its pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
North Korea has denounced U.S.-led efforts to maintain sanctions despite what Pyongyang says are goodwill gestures, including halting its weapons testing and returning the remains of U.S. troops killed in the 1950-1953 Korean War.
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