North Korean Leader Says ‘We No Longer Need’ Nuclear or Missile Tests

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, announced early Saturday that his country no longer needed to test nuclear weapons or missiles and would close a nuclear test site.

“The nuclear test site has done its job,” Kim said in an announcement carried by North Korea’s state media.

Kim’s announcement came days in advance of a planned summit meeting with South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in and later with President Donald Trump.

It was the second time in two days that Kim made what appeared to be a significant concession to the United States but in reality cemented the status quo. North Korea already had stopped testing its weapons.

Kim made no mention in the latest announcement of dismantling the nuclear weapons and long-range missiles North Korea has already built. On the contrary, he suggested he was going to keep them.

Still, Trump welcomed Kim’s latest statement. “North Korea has agreed to suspend all Nuclear Tests and close up a major test site,” the president said in a Twitter message. “This is very good news for North Korea and the World - big progress! Look forward to our Summit.”

Despite Trump’s enthusiasm, American officials have watched Kim with a mix of satisfaction and wariness.

Kim’s move could be tactical — putting the United States on the defensive in advance of talks on its nuclear arsenal. By extending an olive branch, American officials said, North Korea is putting pressure on the United States to accept a deal before Kim agrees to give up North Korea’s nuclear weapons.

Kim could also be trying to drive a wedge between the United States and South Korea, since Moon has put great emphasis on ending more than six decades of military conflict on the Korean Peninsula.

On Thursday, Kim made a similar gesture, dropping his objections to joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States, and saying the North would no longer insist on the withdrawal of American troops from the Korean Peninsula.

In a statement after a meeting of the Central Committee of his ruling Workers’ Party on Friday, Kim said his country required no further nuclear and long-range missile tests because it had achieved a nuclear deterrent. It was now time to focus on rebuilding the economy, he said.

“From April 21, North Korea will stop nuclear tests and launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles,” the Korean Central News Agency said, quoting Kim.

It also said the North would “shut down a nuclear test site in the country’s northern side to guarantee transparency in suspending nuclear tests.”

The announcement came one day after North and South Korea installed what officials said was the first-ever hotline between their top leaders, another sign of improving relations on the divided Korean Peninsula.

Moon was expected to use the hotline, which was installed in his office, to talk with Kim before the two leaders hold their summit meeting on the Korean border Friday. But no date has been set for their first call.

The two Koreas have run a telephone hotline at the truce village of Panmunjom — the venue for the inter-Korean summit — for years. Duty officers from both sides man their telephones at Panmunjom daily in case one side calls the other. The line has been cut off at times when bilateral relations have soured, but communications there have been restored.

But the two countries have never run a direct hotline linking their top leaders’ offices, officials said. The hotline telephones were installed on Moon’s desk in Seoul, the South’s capital, and in the State Affairs Commission in Pyongyang, the North’s capital.

When Moon’s special envoys met with Kim in Pyongyang last month, the two Koreas agreed to install the hotline and arrange for Kim and Moon to use the phone before their summit meeting. In the same meeting, Kim said he was willing to negotiate with the United States on abandoning his country’s nuclear weapons.

Trump recently dispatched CIA Director Mike Pompeo to meet with Kim to lay the groundwork for their meeting, which will be the first-ever summit meeting between the two nations.

South Korean officials hope the hotline will improve communications between the top leaders and pave the way for improved ties between the two Koreas. The hotline could also be used to avert unintended armed clashes between the sides, they said.

“Now, if working-level talks are deadlocked and if our officials act like arrogant blockheads, President Moon can just call me directly and the problem will be promptly solved,” Kim was quoted as telling the visiting South Korean envoys last month.

On Friday, aides to Moon and Kim officially opened the line and checked the connection for about four minutes, said Youn Kun-young, director for the government situation room at Moon’s presidential Blue House.

During the line check, a South Korean and a North Korean caller briefly discussed the weather, according to Moon’s office.

“The connection was very good,” Youn said. “It was as if talking to a neighbor right next door.”