By Lee Hana

North Korea will close its nuclear test site in Punggye-ri, Gilju-gun County, Hamgyeongbuk-do Province, this May, and make it publicly verifiable. North Korea will also change its time zone, currently half an hour behind Korea time, to match that of the South.

During a Cheong Wa Dae press briefing on April 29, Presidential Senior Secretary for Public Relations Yoon Young-chan announced that, “Chairman of the State Affairs Commission Kim Jong Un agreed during the 2018 Inter-Korean Summit to close the North’s nuclear test site next month. To make the dismantling process transparent, he agreed to invite experts and journalists from Korea and the U.S. to the North.”

Yoon said that President Moon Jae-in immediately welcomed this suggestion and that the two leaders agreed to set dates as soon as they were ready.

According to Yoon, the North Korean leader said, “The U.S. is inherently hostile toward North Korea, but through dialogue, it will become apparent that we have no intention to target South Korea, the Pacific Ocean or the U.S. with nuclear weapons. If we are able to build trust with the U.S. through frequent meetings, and promises to end war, and practice a policy of non-aggression, there’s no reason for us to live a hard life with nuclear weapons.”

“We will not repeat the painful history that is the Korean War, and I assure you that military force will not be used under any circumstance,” said Chairman Kim.

The two Koreas also agreed to match their time zones. North Korea is currently 30 minutes behind its southern neighbor.

According to Yoon, Chairman Kim suggested during the summit talks that the North and South should first align their time zones, saying that, “The two different clocks for Seoul and Pyeongyang hanging in the Peace House broke his heart.” He said, “Since it was us that switched from the standard time, we will reset our clocks. You may announce this to the public.”

hlee10@korea.kr