Trump Hails ‘Big Progress’ as Kim Vows to Extend Freeze on Tests

  • Leader Kim Jong Un speaks at party meeting on Friday
  • Comes ahead of summit with South Korean president next week
North Korea says it will freeze nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile launch tests. Stephen Engle reports.(Source: Bloomberg)
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U.S. President Donald Trump hailed “big progress” as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged to halt nuclear testing, a largely symbolic gesture that appeared aimed at softening the ground for talks between the two leaders.

Kim told a ruling party meeting in Pyongyang on Friday his regime would suspend tests of atomic bombs and intercontinental ballistic missiles after achieving its goal of building a nuclear arsenal, the official Korean Central News Agency reported. North Korea will shutter its Punggye-ri test site, a secluded mountain facility believed to be damaged after a hydrogen bomb test in September.