U.S. President Donald Trump has welcomed North Korea's announcement of details of its plan to dismantle its nuclear test site as "a very smart and gracious gesture."
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North's foreign ministry announced Saturday night that it will dismantle its Punggye-ri nuclear test site between May 23 and 25, and will invite journalists from South Korea, China, Russia, the United States and Britain to cover the dismantling on-site.
The ministry also said the ruling Workers' Party and other relevant institutions are "taking technical measures for dismantling the northern nuclear test ground" in order to "ensure transparency of discontinuance of the nuclear test."
"North Korea has announced that they will dismantle Nuclear Test Site this month, ahead of the big Summit Meeting on June 12th. Thank you, a very smart and gracious gesture!" Trump said in a Twitter posting.
North Korea to publicly blow up nuclear test site on May 23-25 2018-05-13 10:49 | North Korea
The North's announcement was seen as yet another goodwill gesture before leader Kim Jong-un meets with Trump in Singapore on June 12 for what will be the first-ever summit of the two Cold War adversaries. It came just days after the North released three American detainees.
The North's leader first promised to demolish the nuclear test site when he held historic summit talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on April 27. The move would underscore the North's commitment to "completely" give up its nuclear program.
