South Korea: Kim Jong Un says he could give up nukes

March 6, 2018

Last Updated Mar 6, 2018 7:24 AM EST

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea said Tuesday that North Korea had agreed to impose a moratorium on tests of nuclear weapons and missiles if it holds talks with the United States. South Korea’s presidential national security director said Tuesday that North Korea said it’s ready to have “heart-to-heart” talks with the United States on issues regarding the North’s potential denuclearization and the normalization of relations between Pyongyang and Washington.

Security director Chung Eui-yong said the North also made it clear that it wouldn’t need to keep its nuclear weapons if military threats against the country were resolved and it received a security guarantee. As CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy reports, however, it is not entirely clear what that means.

A high-level South Korean delegation, including Chung, dined on Monday with Kim Jong Un and his wife in Pyongyang — a meal said to have lasted for more than four hours. North Korean state media said Kim hoped to, “write a new history of national reunification.”

The fast-paced diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula could complicate the Trump administration’s strategy of isolating North Korea with sanctions, Tracy notes. The White House has repeatedly said it is open to talks — but only if North Korea abandons its nuclear weapons program first.

The head of South Korea’s national intelligence service was part of the delegation, and he will now be able to provide the United States with a good read on Kim’s frame of mind, and whether the promises should be believed.

Chung said the North also promised not to use conventional or nuclear weapons against South Korea.

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In this handout image provided by the South Korean Presidential Blue House, Chung Eui-Yong (L), head of the presidential National Security Office, shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un during their meeting, March 5, 2018, in Pyongyang, North Korea.

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The comments were made after the South Korean officials returned from their extraordinary visit to the North, where they met with Kim. The two Koreas agreed to hold summit talks in late April, according to the officials from the South.

South Korea’s presidential office also said Tuesday that the countries had agreed to set up a telephone hotline between their leaders.

The South Korean presidential envoys returned Tuesday a day after meeting Kim. The South Korean delegation headed straight to Seoul’s presidential palace to report to President Moon Jae-in upon their arrival.

The rival Koreas have been taking steps to repair ties strained by North Korean nuclear weapons and missile tests after the North reached out to the South over the recently concluded Pyeongchang Olympics.