Reuters reported today that North Korea’s Kim Jong Un said he is putting an end to his country’s nuclear tests.
He also announced the end of intercontinental missile launches.
These were most probably the points discussed by the CIA chief Mike Pompeo during his secret meeting with Kim.
Pyongyang’s declaration, long sought by Washington, will be seen as a crucial step in the fast diplomatic dance on and around the Korean peninsula, said Reuters.
The North has successfully developed its nuclear arsenal, including miniaturising warheads to fit them on to missiles, Kim said.
“So, no nuclear test and intermediate-range and inter-continental ballistic rocket test-fire are necessary for the DPRK now,” he said.
As such the North’s nuclear testing site was no longer needed, he told the central committee of the ruling Workers’ Party, according to the official KCNA news agency.
The announcement comes after U.S. President Donald Trump added pressure on Kim after saying he might pull the plug on the ‘historic’ meeting expected with Kim.
While Trump’s announcement of a possible pull-out from the talks, the North Koreans saw it as a potential loss of opportunity to strengthen its propagation machinery.
BREAKING: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says the regime no longer needs nuclear tests or intercontinental ballistic missile tests, state-run KCNA reports https://t.co/Yya3Yc5Cr9 pic.twitter.com/Pf2E39mmLS
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) 20 avril 2018
Page 1 said last month the meeting between Trump and Kim was crucial for both leaders, as it would decide who wins on the nuclear issue.
But Kim has so far offered no sign he might be willing to give up what he called the North’s “treasured sword,” saying its possession of nuclear weapons was “the firm guarantee by which our descendants can enjoy the most dignified and happiest life in the world.”
Experts believe the North Korean leader is going into the talks to make political gains but will not surrender the North’s nuclear weapons.
Pyongyang has made rapid technological progress in its weapons programs under Kim, which has seen it subjected to increasingly strict sanctions by the UN Security Council, the United States, the European Union, South Korea and others, said Reuters.