N. Korea’s Kim promises no more nuclear or missile tests

The formal declaration of an end to testing comes after Kim reiterated the North’s nuclear status in his New Year speech and said he had a nuclear button on his desk – prompting Trump to tweet that he had a bigger one of his own.

Events have moved rapidly since then, catalysed by the Winter Olympics in the South, and Seoul is now pushing for a peace treaty to formally end the Korean War, raising hopes that a settlement can finally be reached on the peninsula.

But there is a long way to go and Moon himself acknowledged this week that the “devil is in the details”.

– ‘New strategic line’ –

The US is seeking the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation of the North, while according to Moon, Pyongyang wants security guarantees, potentially leaving much space for disagreement.

The North has long demanded the withdrawal of US troops from the peninsula and an end to its nuclear umbrella over South Korea, something unthinkable in Washington.

But Kim told the Workers’ Party meeting: “A fresh climate of detente and peace is being created on the Korean peninsula and the region and dramatic changes are being made in the international political landscape.”

For years, the impoverished North has pursued a “byungjin” policy of “simultaneous development” of both the military and the economy.

But the leader said that as it was now a powerful state, “the whole party and country” should concentrate on “socialist economic construction”, in what he called the party’s “new strategic line”.

Several factors have driven the Korean rapprochement, including the North feeling that it can now negotiate from a position of strength, concern about the belligerence of the Trump administration, and the looming impact of sanctions.