North Korea agrees to close more missile sites

North and South Korea on Wednesday said the North would shut down key nuclear facilities if the United States took reciprocal measures. In a joint statement following a closed-door meeting at their ongoing summit this week, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said North Korea would close the Dongchang-ri missile engine testing facility and missile launch pad. The leaders did not specify what reciprocal measures they wanted the United States to take.

“We have agreed to make the Korean Peninsula a land of peace that is free from nuclear weapons and nuclear threat,” Kim said.

North Korea also agreed to allow international inspectors to monitor the closure. The two leaders said they would create buffer zones along their land and sea borders to reduce military tensions. They also agreed to remove 11 guard posts from the Demilitarized Zone between the two countries by a December deadline and to suspend test firing near the border. In a nonmilitary decision, the leaders agreed jointly to bid to host the 2032 Summer Olympics.

Kim and Moon began their three-day summit on Tuesday in Pyongyang in the latest effort to discuss the North’s denuclearization efforts. U.S. President Donald Trump in a tweet called the developments “very exciting!”