North Korea Suspends Nuclear And Missile Tests, to Shut Down Site; US President Donald Trump Praises Kim Jong Un

North Korea will never use nuclear weapons unless there is a nuclear threat or nuclear provocation

New Delhi, April 21: North Korea leader Kim Jong-un has announced that the country will suspend its nuclear and missile tests and shut down a nuclear test site. “From April 21, North Korea will stop nuclear tests and launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles,” Yonhap quoted the Korean Central News Agency.

The decision was taken in a meeting of the ruling Worker’s Party of Korea’s (WPK) full Central Committee. Kim Jong-un is set to hold a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in next Friday, a news agency ANI reported.

The development comes ahead of the meeting between United States President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un. The meeting is likely to happen in May or early June, this year.

North Korea president Kim Jong-un said that country will never use nuclear weapons unless there is a nuclear threat or nuclear provocation, and in any case, we will not transfer nuclear weapons and nuclear technology.

The United States and Korea welcomed the news. US President Donald Trump took to a micro-blogging site and posted, “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!

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

Last month, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had also invited US President Donald Trump for talks amid escalating tension between the two hostile countries. The US President reportedly agreed to meet the North Korean leader by May this year.

At many instances, Donald Trump has expressed openness to dialogue with North Korea, but the US has clearly said North Korea must first take concrete steps toward denuclearization. Tensions between North Korea and the US have been at the peak, with Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump exchanging personal barbs against each other. Tensions further escalated after North Korea’s test firing of missiles and conducting its most powerful hydrogen test in September last year. Trump had warned that the isolated regime would “face fire and fury like the world has never seen”.

Trump declared that his nuclear button was “much bigger” and “more powerful” than North Korean leader Kim Jong Un‘s after the latter threatened the US about Pyongyang’s nuclear capabilities. Pyongyang had referred to Trump as “dotard”, a word the reclusive nation has used against him in the past. Trump has previously derided North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as “rocket man”.

(With agency inputs)