South Korea leader: North Korea agrees to take steps toward denuclearization

South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday said his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Un has agreed to take specific steps toward denuclearization.

Moon, who was in Pyongyang to attend a summit with Kim, said North Korea will dismantle a missile test site and launch pad in the presence of international observers, according to The Associated Press.

The South Korean president also said Kim had agreed to dismantle a nuclear complex on the condition that the United States takes corresponding steps.

The two leaders held a joint press conference in the North Korean capital following the second day of their closely watched joint summit. Moon’s visit is the first time in more than a decade that a South Korean president has visited the North.

“What I want to achieve is peace. Not a tentative change which could be volatile dependent on international situation, but irreversible, permanent and unwavering peace, regardless of what might happen on the global arena,” Moon tweeted prior to the summit, according to CNN.

His visit comes after President Trump met with Kim during a much-publicized summit in Singapore in June, fueling hopes that Pyongyang would begin the process of denuclearization. However, Kim made only vague promises in exchange for unspecified “security guarantees” from the U.S., and the summit has yielded few concrete results so far.

Trump, regardless, has remained vocal about his desire to pursue peace negotiations with Kim. The White House earlier in September said it was already at work planning a second summit between the two leaders.

In addition to the agreements announced by Moon, Kim also reportedly plans to visit Seoul “in the near future,” the AP reported. He would be the first North Korean leader to visit the South Korean capital since the end of World War II.

The two countries will also seek to jointly host the 2032 Summer Olympics, Moon reportedly said.

Tags Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula Donald Trump North Korea North Korea–South Korea relations South Korea

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