South Korea’s Moon asks UN to verify closure of Kim’s nuclear test site

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attend a banquet on the Peace House at the truce village of Panmunjom inside the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, South Korea, April 27, 2018. Source: Korea Summit Press Pool/Pool via Reuters

 1st May 2018

SOUTH KOREAN President Moon Jae-in has requested the assistance of the United Nations in verifying North Korea’s planned shutdown of its nuclear test site and efforts for peace on the peninsula, his office announced Tuesday.

As reported by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, Moon delivered his message to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a 30-minute phone conversation, during which he asked the UN to monitor the implementation of the summit deal reached on Friday.

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Moon met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the truce village on the border between these two long battling nations. It was the first time a North Korean leader had set foot in the South since the outbreak of the War in 1950.

The result of the historic summit was the Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula, in which both sides agreed to a “nuclear-free Korean Peninsula” and “solid peace regime” with the aim to officially end the Korean War by the end of this year.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meet in the truce village of Panmunjom inside the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, South Korea, April 27, 2018. Source: Korea Summit Press Pool/Pool via Reuters

Kim also agreed to close down the infamous Punggye-ri nuclear weapons testing site in Kilju County where the regime has conducted six nuclear tests. He invited South Korean and US journalists and experts to visit and make sure the closure goes ahead as planned.

Plans to turn the heavily armed Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) into a peace belt were also discussed.

SEE ALSO: North Korea aligns clocks with South as propaganda cut off in DMZ

Moon asked the UN to monitor the implementation of the summit deal.

“I would like the UN to issue a declaration to support the Panmunjom Declaration via the General Assembly or the Security Council,” Moon was quoted as telling the UN chief.

Guterres reportedly agreed to the proposal, saying he hopes to help efforts to make peace take root in Korea.

He added he would assign a UN disarmament official to work with Seoul on the matter.

Friday’s summit, where Kim and Moon were seen on live TV smiling and even hugging, was the first meeting between the countries in over a decade.