NORTH Korean leader Kim Jong Un has agreed to hold a landmark summit with South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, and to impose a moratorium on nuclear and missile tests if his country holds talks with the US, a senior Seoul official said.

Chung Eui-yong, South Korea’s presidential national security director, said the two Koreas agreed to hold only their third-ever summit at a border village in late April. He also said the leaders will set up a “hotline” communication channel to lower military tensions, and would speak together before the planned summit.

Chung led a 10-member South Korean delegation that met Kim during a two-day visit to Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital from which they returned yesterday.

US President Donald Trump cautiously welcomed the “possible progress” in talks with North Korea, tweeting: “The U.S. is ready to go hard in either direction!”

The agreements follow a flurry of co-operative steps during last month’s Winter Olympics. Chung said North Korea had agreed to suspend nuclear and missile tests for as long as it holds talks with the US, and that Pyongyang also made it clear it would not need to keep its nuclear weapons if military threats against it are removed.