SEOUL, South Korea—North Korea said Saturday that it would dismantle its nuclear test site in less than two weeks, an event that would set up leader Kim Jong Un’s summit with U.S. President Donald Trump next month.
Pyongyang plans to destroy all of the tunnels at the country’s northeastern testing ground with an explosion and remove observation and research facilities and ground-based guard units, the country’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“A ceremony for dismantling the nuclear test ground is now scheduled between May 23 and 25,” depending on weather conditions, the Foreign Ministry’s statement said.
North Korea’s announcement comes days after the U.S. said the historic summit between Mr. Kim and Mr. Trump will be held June 12 in Singapore.
Mr. Trump, in a Saturday evening post on his Twitter account, thanked North Korea for its plan to dismantle the nuclear test site, calling it “a very smart and gracious gesture!”
Mr. Kim had already revealed plans to shut down the test site by the end of May during his summit last month with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
Following the Moon-Kim summit, Mr. Moon’s office said Mr. Kim was willing to disclose the process to international experts, but North Korea’s statement Saturday didn’t include any mention about allowing experts on the site.
South Korea had no immediate response to the statement.
During their summit at a border truce village, Messrs. Moon and Kim vaguely promised to work toward the “complete denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula, but made no references to verification or timetables.
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