2018.04.2218:45:00UTC+00North Korea Announces Immediate Suspension of Nuclear and Missile Tests

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un announced that the country will stop nuclear and missile tests immediately, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

The state media said that Pyongyang would shutter its nuclear test site as part of the country's efforts to push for economic growth and regional peace. The agency cited Kim stating during a meeting of the ruling party's full Central Committee that the country no longer need any nuclear test or test launches of both intermediate and intercontinental range ballistic missiles. He added that because of this, the northern nuclear test site has completed its mission.

The announcement also stated that North Korea has pledged to join international efforts to stop all nuclear tests and promised never to utilize nuclear weapons given that there are no threats to the country.

The announcement came amid increasingly subsiding tensions on the Korean Peninsula before a historic meeting between North and South Korea next week. Kim is set to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in at a border village on April 27 and U.S. President Donald Trump in the following months in separate summits.

The inter-Korean summit scheduled next week will be the first of such meeting since 2007 and only the third since the 1950-1953 Korean War.

Kim's proposed meeting with Trump will come months following a diplomatic dispute that saw the two leaders throwing tense military threats and personal insults at each other.

The move was welcomed by Trump on Saturday in a tweet, adding that he is looking forward to their summit.