Pres TRUMP Welcomes Kim's Nuke Freeze announcement.

https://www.rt.com/usa/424741-trump-korea-denuclearization-progress/?utm_source=browser&utm_medium=push_notifications&utm_campaign=push_notifications
‘Big progress!’ Trump welcomes Kim’s nuke test freeze announcement
Published time: 20 Apr, 2018 22:57
Edited time: 21 Apr, 2018 05:36
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FILE PHOTO: Donald Trump's supporters rally in Seoul Kim Kyung Hoon
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US President Donald Trump has reacted with optimism to North Korea’s announcement of its change of course and its immediate and indefinite nuclear test freeze, stating that he was “looking forward” to meeting with Kim Jong-un.
Donald Trump, who has been preparing to meet Kim in the coming weeks, welcomed the development ahead of the summit, calling it a “good news for the world.”

READ MORE: Path to denuclearization? North Korea announces 6 pivotal decisions

“North Korea has agreed to suspend all Nuclear Tests and close up a major test site. This is very good news for North Korea and the World – big progress!” the US leader tweeted. “Look forward to our Summit.”


Donald J. Trump

@realDonaldTrump
 North Korea has agreed to suspend all Nuclear Tests and close up a major test site. This is very good news for North Korea and the World - big progress! Look forward to our Summit.

11:50 PM - Apr 20, 2018
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced at an earlier session of the ruling party that the country’s further nuclear and ballistic missile tests will be frozen, starting April 21, 2018. Pyongyang also promised to shut down its main nuclear research facility.


Donald J. Trump

@realDonaldTrump
 A message from Kim Jong Un: “North Korea will stop nuclear tests and launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles.”
Also will “Shut down a nuclear test site in the country’s Northern Side to prove the vow to suspend nuclear tests.” Progress being made for all!

4:22 AM - Apr 21, 2018
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The socialist country vowed not to use nuclear weapons unless there is a “nuclear threat or nuclear provocation” against North Korea. The North also expressed willingness to work on global non-proliferation of atomic weapons. Speaking at a plenary meeting of the central committee of the Worker's Party of Korea, Kim outlined the country's future development course, which will focus on economic growth.

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FILE PHOTO KCNA 'Mission complete': Kim Jong-un halts any further nuclear & missile tests, shuts down testing site
The surprise announcement comes amid preparations for the much-anticipated high-level meeting between Trump and Kim, planned to take place sometime after the historic intra-Korean leaders’ summit, scheduled for April 27.

As Trump’s team continues to prepare for the summit, earlier this week the US president confirmed that Secretary of State nominee Mike Pompeo already had a secret meeting with the North Korean leader in Pyongyang, and that, currently, five locations are being considered for the US-Korea summit.

Although the US president stated that a meeting between the two leaders will be a “tremendous thing” for the world, he stressed on Wednesday that the plan to sit across from Kim could still end before it begins.

“If I think that it's a meeting that is not going to be fruitful, we're not going to go,” Trump said during a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Florida. “Our campaign of maximum pressure will continue until North Korea will denuclearize.”

Prior to Kim's announcement, South Korean president Moon Jae-in noted on Thursday that, besides North Korean willingness for "complete denuclearization", Pyongyang is also willing to negotiate with the US under favorable conditions and will most likely not demand the withdrawal of US forces stationed in South Korea.

A number of US lawmakers also welcomed the development but called for the maximum pressure against Pyongyang to continue.

"The pressure campaign must stay in place until full denuclearization is complete. Suspending all nuclear tests is a positive first step," Congressman Michael McCaul (R-TX) tweeted.


Michael McCaul

@RepMcCaul
 Encouraging news out of North Korea. But actions speak louder than words. The pressure campaign must stay in place until full denuclearization is complete. Suspending all nuclear tests is a positive first step. http://dailycaller.com/2018/03/06/north-korea-might-negotiate-in-good-faith-this-time-but-it-would-be-the-first-time/ …

3:01 AM - Apr 21, 2018
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"North Korea's announcement is a testament to President Trump's determination to negotiate from a position of strength," Congressman Dan Donovan (R-NY) told his followers. "American resolve means something again. This is just the beginning of the work to defuse the crisis, but it's cause for cautious optimism."


Dan Donovan

@RepDanDonovan
 North Korea's announcement is a testament to President Trump's determination to negotiate from a position of strength. American resolve means something again. This is just the beginning of the work to defuse the crisis, but it's cause for cautious optimism.

12:11 AM - Apr 21, 2018
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"With North Korea, there is always room for deep skepticism, but we should seize the opportunity to test their willingness to change," Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) said on his Twitter.


Adam Schiff

@RepAdamSchiff
 North Korea’s announced suspension of missile and nuclear tests is a positive sign in the lead up to a high-stakes summit. With North Korea, there is always room for deep skepticism, but we should seize the opportunity to test their willingness to change. https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/987469742964465667 …

1:18 AM - Apr 21, 2018
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https://www.rt.com/news/424738-korea-kim-nuclear-ballistic-tests/?utm_source=browser&utm_medium=push_notifications&utm_campaign=push_notifications
'Mission complete': Kim Jong-un halts any further nuclear & missile tests, shuts down testing site
Published time: 20 Apr, 2018 21:57
Edited time: 21 Apr, 2018 09:14
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FILE PHOTO KCNA / Reuters
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North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs have allowed it to secure strategic stability and peace, so there is no need for additional missile and nuclear tests anymore, Kim Jong-un has proclaimed.
"From April 21, 2018, nuclear tests and intercontinental ballistic missile tests will be discontinued," the Korean Central News Agency cited Kim as saying at a plenary meeting of the central committee of the ruling Worker's Party of Korea (WPK).

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KCNA via'I'll leave the meeting': Trump says he'll walk out on Kim if talks aren't 'fruitful'
Furthermore, since North Korea's nuclear test center has "completed" its mission, it "will be discarded in order to ensure the transparency of the nuclear test suspension," KCNA reported.

Announcing the new course, the ruling party has declared that North Korea "will never use nuclear weapons, unless there is nuclear threat or nuclear provocation to our country, and in no case we will proliferate nuclear weapons and nuclear technology."

In the announcement, North Korea noted that the "suspension of nuclear testing is an important process for global nuclear disarmament." Therefore, North Korea is willing to join international denuclearization efforts.

North Korea's last major missile test took place on November 29. Pyongyang announced at the time that it had tested a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile known as the Hwasong-15 that could reach the entire continental United States.

US President Donald Trump, who has traded insults and threats with Kim since taking office, tweeted that the latest decision by Pyongyang is "good news for North Korea and the world," calling it "big progress."


Donald J. Trump

@realDonaldTrump
 North Korea has agreed to suspend all Nuclear Tests and close up a major test site. This is very good news for North Korea and the World - big progress! Look forward to our Summit.

11:50 PM - Apr 20, 2018
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China has also hailed the move, expressing hope that Pyongyang will continue towards the path of denuclearization and "political settlement" on the Korean Peninsula. "Denuclearization of the peninsula and lasting peace in the region are in line with the common interests of the people of the peninsula," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday. 

South Korea also praised the decision. The president's office called it "meaningful progress for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, which the world waits for."

The European Union's foreign affairs chief, Federica Mogherini, also called North Korea's announcement a step in the right direction. She called the move "a positive, long sought-after step on the path that has now to lead the country's complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization."

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FILE PHOTO: North Korea's ruling party holds a banquet Path to denuclearization? North Korea announces 6 pivotal decisions
Japan, however, was less excited about the announcement. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stated that while he wants to "welcome these positive moves," he wondered "if this will lead to the complete, verifiable, and irreversible dismantlement of its nuclear arsenal, weapons of mass destruction, and missiles." 

The extraordinary development comes just ahead of Kim's meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in later this month. The announcement also follows US Secretary of State nominee Mike Pompeo's recent secret meeting with the North Korean leader in Pyongyang.

Trump is also preparing to meet Kim in the coming weeks. He has stressed on a number of occasions that Washington would keep up its "maximum pressure" campaign on North Korea until it agrees to denuclearize.

"Our campaign of maximum pressure will continue until North Korea will denuclearize," Trump said on Wednesday. "As I have said before, there is a bright path available to North Korea when it achieves denuclearization in a complete and verifiable and irreversible way. It will be a great day for them, it will be a great day for the world."

Meanwhile, the director of the anti-war Answer Coalition, Brian Becker, told RT that Kim's announcement to halt the missile tests was a "big step" because it "is removing all of the obstacles, the impediments, that would stop a possible, real, major development on the Korean Peninsula, bringing the Korean War to an end finally, all these decades later." He added that Pyongyang "wants a peace treaty and it wants to be able to trade and it wants to be economically integrated into the world economy."