1. North Korea Discloses Shutdown of Its Nuclear Test Site 

During the Inter-Korean Summit with President Moon Jae-in at Peace House on the southern side of Panmunjeom on April 27, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission Kim Jong Un said that North Korea would conduct the shutdown of its nuclear test facility in Punggye-ri in May and that he would invite experts and journalists from South Korea and the United States to the North soon in order to transparently reveal it to the international community.

Chairman Kim, during the morning session of the Summit with President Moon, said “Some claim we are closing down an unusable test site, but if they come and see, they will understand that there are two bigger tunnels than the existing test facilities and that they are in a very good condition.” 

President Moon immediately welcomed Chairman Kim’s decision to make public the closure of North Korea’s nuclear test site, and the two leaders agreed to consult each other on the schedule of the timing for inviting Korean and American professionals and journalists to the North as soon as the North is ready. 

Chairman Kim’s declaration to close the nuclear test site and open the process of doing so to the public is a demonstration of his determination to actively and preemptively deal with the expected denuclearization verification process, which is going to be discussed later.  

Chairman Kim also said, “The United States, though inherently hostile to North Korea, will get to know once our talk begins that I am not the kind of person who will use nuclear weapons against the South or the United States across the Pacific.” He added, “There is no reason for us to possess nuclear weapons while suffering difficulties if mutual trust with the United States is built through frequent meetings from now on, and an end to the war and non-aggression are promised.”

Chairman Kim added, “We will never repeat the painful history of the Korean War. We must prevent the further spilling of blood on this land shared by the same people. I reaffirm that military force will not be used by any means.”  

Chairman Kim said, “The risk of accidental military clashes and their escalation into all-out war is indeed a problem, and we need effective measures for institutionally managing this risk and preventing it from happening for real.” 

2. North Korea Adopts Seoul Standard Time

Chairman Kim Jong-un said he would adjust Pyongyang Standard Time, which is 30 minutes later than Seoul, to match it with Seoul Standard Time.

During the afternoon meeting with President Moon Jae-in and First Lady Kim Jung-sook, Chairman Kim said “There were two different clocks in the reception hall at Peace House. One was for Seoul time and the other for Pyeongyang time, which made my heart heavy.” Chairman Kim suggested, “Let’s first unify the two different times of the two Koreas.”

He continued, “We will go back to the original standard time zone that we had in the first place; we diverged from the same zone. You can publicly announce this.” 

Chairman Kim decided to do this even though the re-adoption of Seoul Standard Time will cause numerous administrative challenges and financial burdens in the North. We understand Chairman Kim’s decision reiterates the North’s will to move forward more actively in harmony and accord with the international community and to remove potential obstacles to exchanges and cooperation between the South and North as well as between the North and the United States, which are expected to take place in the future.