SEOUL: North Korea’s Kim Jong Un agreed to make a historic visit to Seoul soon and close a missile testing site in front of international inspectors at a summit with the South’s President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang on Wednesday.

Progress on the key issue of the North’s nuclear arsenal was limited, but the two signed a document to strengthen ties between the two halves of the divided peninsula.

Building on a growing rapprochement, they agreed to create a facility to hold family reunions at any time, work towards joining up road and rail links, and mount a combined bid for the 2032 Olympics.

The agreement “carries the people’s fresh hope and the people’s strong, flaming desire for reunification”, Kim said.

His trip to Seoul would be the first by a Northern leader since the end of the 1950-53 Korean war, when hostilities ceased with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, leaving them technically in a state of war.

Moon added that the visit could happen this year and would be a “monumental milestone in inter-Korean relations”.

In their agreement, the North also agreed to “permanently close” a missile engine testing site and launch facility in Tongchang-ri “in the presence of experts from relevant nations”.

Moon, who brokered Kim’s historic summit with US President Donald Trump in Singapore in June, had hoped to bring fresh momentum to stalled talks between his hosts and Washington.

Whether that would happen remained unclear.

In Singapore Kim declared his backing for denuclearisation of the peninsula, but no details were agreed. Washington and Pyongyang have since sparred over what that means and how it will be achieved.

Trump welcomed Wednes­day’s declaration, tweeting that Kim had “agreed to allow nuclear inspections, subject to final negotiations” and adding: “Very exciting!” But experts were sceptical.

‘Short of expectations’

The North — whose ballistic missile programme is banned under UN Security Council resolutions — has carried out several long-range rocket launches from the site, also known as Sohae, but has also used many other locations, including Pyongyang airport.

Satellite pictures last month suggested workers were already dismantling an engine test stand at Sohae.

“Kim is playing this brilliantly: verify that I dismantle a single site that I no longer need anyway while I mass-produce the missiles the site helped me develop,” said Vipin Narang of MIT.

Moon also said the North could close its Yongbyon nuclear plant if Washington takes “corresponding measures” — a significant caveat.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2018