North Korea will invite foreign journalists to shutdown of nuclear test site 'to ensure transparency'

Reporters will be allowed to fly in through China and will board a train to the nuclear test ground in an 'unhabitable deep mountain area'

(Korea Summit Press Pool via AP, File)

North Korea said it will invite journalists, including from the US and South Korea, to the shutdown of its nuclear test site "to ensure transparency".

The country's state media reported that North Korea's government had scheduled to dismantle its nuclear bomb test site during "a ceremony" between 23 and 25 May - a few weeks ahead of a historic summit between Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump in Singapore on 12 June.

State media said journalists would be invited to cover the event "to show in a transparent manner the dismantlement of the northern nuclear test ground to be carried out".

The exact date of the closure of the site is reported to depend on weather conditions.

North Korea said it would take a host of measures including "opening its territorial airspace" which will allow journalists to fly in through China.

All international reporters will be provided with a charter flight from Beijing into Wonsan, a port city in eastern North Korea. There, they will board a charter train to the nuclear test ground in an "unhabitable deep mountain area", according to state media.

North Korea's nuclear tests have taken place in Punggye-ri, a location in the northeastern part of North Korea where a system of tunnels have been dug under Mount Mantap.

State media said the dismantling of the nuclear site would involve the collapsing of its tunnels with explosions, blocking its entrances and removing all observation facilities, research buildings and security posts.

President Trump welcomed the announcement by North Korea's government. In a tweet, he called the move "a very smart and gracious gesture".

"North Korea has announced that they will dismantle Nuclear Test Site this month, ahead of the big Summit Meeting on June 12th. Thank you, a very smart and gracious gesture!" he tweeted.

The latest announcement comes after last month's landmark Panmunjom summit when Mr Kim suggested he would halt missile and nuclear tests ahead of his meeting with President Trump.

South Korea's presidential office also welcomed the move, saying it showed North Korea's willingness to denuclearise through actions rather than just words.

Despite progress being hailed from all sides, North Korea has given no indication it was willing to go beyond support for denuclearisation by unilaterally abandoning its nuclear weapons programme.

When Mr Kim announced plans to stop testing last month, he said North Korea no longer needed to conduct tests because it had completed its goals of developing nuclear weapons.

Experts have previously warned that the two sides may have very different ideas of what denuclearisation means for them.

According to a recent report by Chinese experts, significant parts of the Punggye-ri test site collapsed following North Korea's most recent nuclear test in September, making the site unsafe for future testing.

But some US officials said the site remained usable and could be reactivated "in a relatively short period of time".

Reuters contributed to this report.