North Korea would consider abandoning its nuclear weapons program if its security can be guaranteed, South Korean media said Tuesday, citing authorities in Seoul.
The announcement in the South's capital came as the two Koreas also said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has agreed to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the end of April for a summit to discuss denuclearization. It will be held in the demilitarized zone, a border area that has divided the two nations since 1953.
The North expressed its willingness to hold "candid talks" with the United States and said it would stop testing nuclear weapons and missiles for the duration of any talks it may hold with Washington, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.
The apparent diplomatic breakthrough came after a high-level South Korean delegation visited the North's capital Pyongyang for a meeting with Kim on Monday.
South Korea’s presidential national security director, Chung Eui-yong, who attended the meeting, said Kim's regime signaled that it would not need to keep its nuclear weapons if military threats against the country are resolved and it receives a credible security guarantee, according to Yonhap.
President Trump tweeted Tuesday: "Possible progress being made in talks with North Korea. For the first time in many years, a serious effort is being made by all parties concerned. The World is watching and waiting! May be false hope, but the U.S. is ready to go hard in either direction!"
The White House has previously ruled out direct talks with North Korea unless it fully commits to abandoning its nuclear weapons program. Since taking office, Trump has threatened to attack North Korea, exchanged unprecedented insults with Kim and imposed tough sanctions.
Trump has also presided over a diplomatic rapprochement between the rival Koreas that started in the run-up to the Olympics in South Korea last month.
In a tweet Tuesday accompanying a link to a Drudge Report article that Kim was hosting the delegation from Seoul, Trump wrote: "We will see what happens!"
The April summit, only the third between the leaders of the two countries, will be held in the truce village of Panmunjeom, Yonhap reported. The countries also agreed to set up a telephone hotline between their leaders.
Ahead of the historic meeting Monday, analysts were skeptical that the talks would lead to a diplomatic breakthrough over the North’s nuclear arms program.
It was the first time South Korean officials met personally with Kim and was part of an effort by Moon to ease tensions.
Contributing: Jim Michaels
