North Korea to shut down nuclear test site ahead of US summit

North Korea said Saturday that it plans to dismantle its nuclear test site during a ceremony attended by international media between May 23 and 25, the state-run KCNA news agency reported.

North Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that in order "to ensure transparency," international journalists would be allowed to attend the event, according to the report.

The event is scheduled to take place ahead of unprecedented talks between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on June 12.

Trump thanked North Korea on Twitter, describing the move to dismantle the Punggye-ri site in the country's north as a "very smart and gracious gesture."

Officials say that the site's tunnels will be collapsed with explosions, access will be blocked off, and guards and research staff ordered to leave.

The ministry said it would also organize a special charter train for journalists to access the remote mountainous area where the nuclear test site is located, according to the report.

The announcement came hours after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States hoped that North Korea could become a "close partner" after he visited Pyongyang to finalize the details of the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore.

The summit will mark the first time a sitting US president holds talks with a North Korean leader.

Pompeo also said that if North Korea took "bold action to quickly denuclearize," the US was prepared to "work with North Korea to achieve prosperity on the par with our South Korean friends."

A nuclear-free Korean peninsula and an official end to the 1950-53 Korean War were among the goals set in an April 27 summit between South Korean President Moon Jae In and Kim at their nations' border.