In an unprecedented move, North Korea announced it would close its main nuclear test complex next month. The news comes in parallel with the information that Pyongyang will warm its relations with Tokyo and even align its time zone with the south neighbour.
Pyongyang will soon invite experts and journalists from South Korea and the US to present the dismantling process of facilities used for nuclear trials in a transparent manner.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has given this promise to South Korean President Moon Jae-in during their meeting on Friday.
However, this gesture may be interpreted in another way. A study of Chinese seismologists shows that the testing field may have become unusable because of a partial collapse of the mountain under which it is located. There were conducted all six North Korean nuclear attempts from 2006 to 2017. The sixth and most powerful trial on 3 September, for which Pyongyang said he has tried a hydrogen bomb, has caused a high magnitude earthquake. According to scientists, this explosion could have made the site unusable.
Kim Jong-Un noted that he had no intention to close his other two (nuclear) test complexes. But he also makes another gesture – it aligns the time zone of North Korea to that of its southern neighbour. The two Koreas used the same time zone for decades. In 2015 Pyongyang introduced its own time zone by turning the arrows 30 minutes backwards from Seoul.
Finally, Kim Jong-Un expressed his readiness to start a dialogue with Japan, including on difficult topics such as the issue of the kidnapped Japanese citizens from North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe added that Kim Jong-Un is aware of his suggestions for resolving the issue, but did not wish to reveal how the North Korean leader responded. However, it was clear that Tokyo will follow closely the policy of North Korea following the inter-Korean Summit and before the possible meeting of Kim Jong-Un with Donald Trump. Mongolia and Singapore are among the countries likely to host the Summit.
Global leaders strongly appreciate the inter-Korean summit as an important historic step towards stability in the Asia-Pacific region.
