North Korea announces plan to 'stop nuclear tests and launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles'

Reuters

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets members of the high-level delegation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea which visited South Korea to attend the opening ceremony of the 23 rd Winter Olympics in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) February 13, 2018.

• North Korea has announced that it plans to stop conducting nuclear and missile tests, according to the state-run news media.
• The suspension is expected to begin on April 21.
• North and South Korea are set to hold diplomatic talks on April 27.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has announced the country will stop conducting nuclear and missile tests, according to its state-run news media.

"From April 21, North Korea will stop nuclear tests and launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles," KCNA said, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap News.

"The North will shut down a nuclear test site in the country's northern side to prove the vow to suspend nuclear test," Yonhap continued.

But experts weighed in on the North Korea's signal for peace with some skepticism.

"They have reached a point in their development cycle/testing sequence that this is probably technologically true," MIT associate professor Vipin Narang wrote on Twitter. "In fact they told us in November already that they had reached completion of their nuclear deterrent."

North Korea had also signaled it would curb its nuclear tests by televising the destruction of a nuclear facility in 2008, only to announce that it would restart operations in 2013.

The development comes just days before North and South Korean leaders are scheduled to meet for diplomatic talks on April 27.

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