The reported pledge from the North’s leader Kim Jong Un follows weeks of whirlwind diplomacy that saw Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in agree to pursue the complete denuclearisation of the peninsula during a historic summit on Friday.

“Kim said, during the summit with President Moon, that he would carry out the closing of the nuclear test site in May,” Seoul’s presidential spokesman Yoon Young-chan said.

Kim said he “would soon invite experts of South Korea and the US as well as journalists to disclose the process to the international community with transparency”, Yoon added.

Tension has been high on the flashpoint peninsula since last year when the North carried its sixth — and most powerful — atomic test and test-fired missiles capable of reaching the US mainland.

“Kim said ‘the US feels repelled by us, but once we talk, they will realise that I am not a person who will fire a nuclear weapon to the South or the US or target the US,” according to Yoon.

“If we meet often (with the US), build trust, end the war and eventually are promised no invasion, why would we live with the nuclear weapons?'”

Kim also slammed speculation during his meeting with Moon that the Punggye-ri test site was already unusable after an underground tunnel there reportedly collapsed.

“As they will see once they visit, there are two more tunnels (in the test site) that are even bigger… and they are in good condition,” he was quoted as saying.

The remarks are likely to be seen as a sweetener ahead of Trump’s own planned summit with Kim, which the US president said would take place “in the next three or four weeks”.

Trump touted his ability to achieve a nuclear deal with the regime at a campaign-style rally in Michigan to cheers and chants of “Nobel! Nobel!”.

The US leader has been eager to play up his role in achieving a breakthrough with Pyongyang through his “maximum pressure” campaign involving tough rhetoric, strengthened global sanctions and diplomatic efforts to further isolate the regime.

“Months ago, do you remember what they were saying? ‘He’s going to get us into nuclear war, they said,'” Trump told supporters in Washington Township, north of Detroit.

“No, strength is going to keep us out of nuclear war, not going to get us in!” he added.

But Trump also sounded a note of caution, saying he was prepared to walk away if US demands for North Korea to relinquish its atomic arsenal in a complete, verifiable and irreversible way were not met.

His remarks came as his new Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told ABC News he had a “good conversation” with Kim during his secret visit to Pyongyang over Easter weekend, adding that Kim was “prepared to… lay out a map that would help us achieve” denuclearisation.

– ‘Things are going well’ –

Trump held phone calls earlier Saturday with both Moon and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, declaring “things are going very well”, as CBS News reported that Mongolia and Singapore are the final two locations under consideration for his meeting with Kim.

The North once invited foreign observers and journalists to its main Yongbyon atomic complex in 2008 when it destroyed an aged cooling tower — with the dramatic explosion televised globally within hours.

That event did not slow the North’s nuclear drive, but the situation looks more upbeat this time, Hong Min, analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP.

“There’s a vast difference between blowing up a cooling tower and dismantling your only and, if what Kim said was right, functioning nuclear test site,” he said, adding Kim was “giving away in advance one of the major chips he could have saved for the actual meeting with Trump”.

“Given this is only a conciliatory move in the build-up to the summit, I think the meeting is likely to produce something more concrete,” he said.

Pyongyang has demanded as-yet-unspecified security guarantees to discuss its arsenal, but Kim could use the meeting to agree on “the range of nuclear weapons and facilities to be dismantled and specific time frame to do so”, said Hong.

– New era? –

On Saturday the North’s state media hailed the inter-Korea summit as a “historic meeting”, adding that Kim and Moon “confirmed the common goal of realizing, through complete denuclearisation, a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.”

But the phrase is a diplomatic euphemism open to interpretation on both sides.

Pyongyang has long wanted to see an end to the US military presence and nuclear umbrella over the South, but it invaded its neighbour in 1950 and is the only one of the two Koreas to possess nuclear weapons.

When Kim stepped over the military demarcation line that divides the peninsula he became the first North Korean leader to set foot in the South since the Korean War hostilities ceased in 1953 with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

In a joint statement, the two Korean leaders also pledged to seek a peace treaty this year to formally declare the Korean War over.

The World Heritage-listed site, which attracts millions of tourists, is reeling from significant bouts of coral bleaching due to warming sea temperatures linked to climate change

It is also under threat from the coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish, which has proliferated due to pollution and agricultural runoff

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said more than Aus$500 million ($400 million) would go towards improving water quality, tackling predators, and expanding restoration efforts

Turnbull said it was the “largest ever single investment — to protect the reef, secure its viability and the 64,000 jobs that rely on the reef”.

“We want to ensure the reef’s future for the benefit of all Australians, particularly those whose livelihood depends on the reef,” he added.

The reef is a critical national asset, contributing Aus$6.4 billion a year to the Australian economy.

Canberra has previously committed more than Aus$2.0 billion to protect the site over the next decade, but has been criticised for backing a huge coal project by Indian mining giant Adani nearby.

With its heavy use of coal-fired power and relatively small population, Australia is considered one of the world’s worst per-capita greenhouse gas polluters.

Canberra insists it is taking strong action to address the global threat of climate change, having set an ambitious target to reduce emissions by 26 to 28 percent from 2005 levels by 2030.

Turnbull said part of the money will be used to mitigate the impacts of climate change, but gave no details.

Conservationists said while the funding was “an important step”, the biggest threat to the reef was global warming and not enough was being done to combat it by embracing clean energy.

“Science is well aware of what’s killing the coral. It’s the excess heat from burning fossil fuels,” said Bill McKibben, founder of the global grassroots climate movement 350.org.

“To simultaneously promote the world’s biggest coal mine (Adani) while pretending to care about the world’s largest reef is an acrobatic feat only a cynical politician would attempt.”

Australian Conservation Foundation chief Kelly O’Shanassy agreed.

“Our elected representatives can’t have it both ways,” she said. “Climate change is the number one threat to the Great Barrier Reef and only concerted action to cut pollution will fully protect it.”

– Resilient reef –

The bulk of the new funding — just over Aus$200 million — was earmarked to improve water quality by changing farming practices and adopting new technologies and land management.

“The money will go towards improving water quality, working with farmers to prevent sediment, nitrogen and pesticide runoff into the reef,” said Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg.

“It will ensure that we tackle the crown-of-thorns… and use the best available science to ensure our coral is resilient to heat and light stress.”

He said the government would work with traditional Aboriginal owners, the tourist industry, farmers and scientists, to save the reef, calling the commitment “a game-changer”.

Earlier this month, scientists said the site suffered a “catastrophic die-off” of coral during an extended heatwave in 2016, threatening a broader range of reef life than previously feared.

A study in the journal Nature said some 30 percent of the reef’s coral perished, the first of an unprecedented two successive years of coral bleaching along the 2,300-kilometre (1,400-mile) reef.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said during Friday’s summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in that he would close the country’s nuclear test site next month, Moon’s office said Sunday.

“Kim said during the summit… that he would carry out the closing of the nuclear test site in May,” Moon’s spokesman told reporters.

The 28-year-old suspect was detained and the injured children were receiving hospital treatment, the Mizhi County public security bureau in Shaanxi province said on its official social media account.

Seven girls and two boys were killed, the official Xinhua news agency said, citing local police. The ages of the children were not given, but middle schoolers are usually between 12 and 15 years old in China.

The incident took place at around 6:10 pm local time, the department said.

A man surnamed Zhao from Zhaojiashan village in Mizhi County was arrested, the public security bureau said.

The suspect confessed that he had been “bullied” when he attended the same Number Three Middle School when he was a child, “hated” his classmates and decided to use a “dagger” to kill people on Friday, the bureau said.

A video posted by The Paper, a daily, on video-sharing website Miaopai.com shows two or three bodies lying on the ground in a narrow lane. A person is heard shouting “hurry, call the police!” Police are seen running and later frogmarching a man down the street.

AFP could not immediately verify the authenticity of the video.

Knife attacks are not uncommon in the country.

In February, a knife-wielding man with a personal grudge killed a woman and injured 12 others in a busy Beijing shopping mall — a rare act of violence in the heavily policed capital.

In the southern city of Shenzhen, a man armed with a kitchen knife killed two people and wounded nine others in a supermarket last July.

History of attacks

Attacks have also targeted schoolchildren in the past, forcing authorities to increase security around schools.

In January 2017, a man armed with a kitchen knife stabbed and wounded 11 children at a kindergarten in China’s southern Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

The previous February a knife-wielding assailant wounded 10 children in Haikou, in the southern island province of Hainan, before committing suicide.

The man had entered the school in the afternoon, claiming that he was there to pick up his son.

The attacks have led to calls for more research into the root causes of such acts.

Violent crime has been on the rise in China in recent decades as the nation’s economy has boomed and the gap between rich and poor has widened rapidly.

Studies have also described a rise in the prevalence of mental disorders, some of them linked to stress as the pace of life becomes faster and support systems wither.

In June last year, a bomb blast that killed eight people and injured dozens outside a kindergarten in Fengxian, eastern China, was blamed on a 22-year-old introvert with health problems who had written the words “death” and “destroy” on the walls of his apartment. Material to make a homemade explosive device was found in the home.

Shaking hands at the Military Demarcation Line

“(You) are coming to the South, when will I be able to visit the North?” Moon asked.

“Let’s step over now,” Kim Jong-un said, leading Moon across the Military Demarcation Line.

Walking to the Peace House escorted by South Korea’s traditional ceremonial guard

“Foreigners like out traditional ceremonial guard. It is a shame that today’s ceremonial guard has been simplified. A much better scene could be displayed (if Kim Jong-un) came to Cheong Wa Dae,” Moon said.

“If the president extends an invitation, (I) will go to Cheong Wa Dae at any time,” Kim said.

During the inspection of the honor guard

“There are those (of his entourage) who return (to the North) after the inspection,” Kim said.

“It would be nice if the South and North’s entourage all take a photograph,” Moon said, leading to an unscheduled photo session.

Viewing the painting of Bukhansan at the Peace House

“What is the technique used for the painting?” Kim asked.

“It is a Western painting created using Eastern techniques,” Moon said.

Viewing Hangeul-inspired art work

(Yonhap)

“This piece uses the letters of Hunminjeongeum created by King Sejong the Great.Here, the word ‘seorosamatdi’ means ‘connected,’ and the word contains the letter ‘mieum.’ The word ‘maenganoni’ means ‘to make.’ The gieuk is expressed differently.This means to make a connection, the mieum in ‘samatdi’ is the mieum of Moon Jae-in, the gieuk of ‘maenganoni’ is the gieuk of Kim Jong-un,” Moon said.

“Attention was paid down to the details,” Kim responded laughing.

“How did you get here?” Moon asked.

“(I) came by car at dawn and passed by Kaesong. You must have set out early in the morning,” Kim said.

“I was only 52 kilometers away, so it took about an hour,” Moon said.

“I heard that you lost sleep early in the morning attending NSC meetings because of us, it must now be a habit to wake up early,” Kim said laughing.

“As the chairman has spoken (about related issues) to the special envoys, I will be able to sleep well from now on,” Moon said.

“I will ensure that the president does not lose sleep early in the morning. Walking the 200 meters, I wondered why it took so long, why it was so difficult. Initially, I thought I would meet you in Pyongyang, but it has turned out better that (we) meet here. Many are watching (the meeting) at a place symbolizing conflict. On the way, I noticed that those who lost their homes (due to the Korean War), North Korean defectors, people of Yeonpyeong island and others who were worried about artillery shells from the North are all watching our meeting with anticipation. I hope that this will be an opportunity to heal the wounds between the South and the North. The demarcation line is not high, and would it not disappear if many people step over it?” Kim said.

“Many people saw me off on my way from Cheong Wa Dae. There is high anticipation about our meeting today. (I) took a photograph with the people of Daeseong-dong.Our shoulders are heavy. Starting at Panmunjeom today, I hope the meetings continue in Pyongyang, Seoul, Jeju and Baekdusan,” Moon said.

Pointing to paintings of Seongsan Ilchulbong (Jeju) and Changbai Waterfall (Baekdusan)

“On the left is a painting of the Changbai Waterfall, and the right is a painting of Jeju’s Seongsan Ilchulbong,” Moon said.

“It seems President Moon knows more about Baekdusan than me,” Kim said.

“I have not been to Baekdusan. But many people visit Baekdusan from China. I wish to visit Baekdusan from the North,” Moon said.

“In truth, a concern for a visit by President Moon is that the lack of transportation (infrastructure) would be an inconvenience. Those who have been to the PyeongChang Olympics say that the high-speed PyeongChang train is good. If (Moon) comes to the North after living in the South, it may be embarrassing. We will make preparations for a comfortable visit,” Kim said.

“If the railroad is connected with the North, both the South and North can use high-speed trains. This is contained in the agreement of June 15, and Oct. 4, but it has not been executed over the past 10 years. It is shameful that the flow (of inter-Korean cooperation) was severed due to changing inter-Korean relations. Chairman Kim’s bold decision has allowed the vein to be reconnected,” Moon said.

“As high as the anticipation, there are skeptical views. Big agreements were made, but not realized for more than 10 years. There is skepticism about whether the results of today’s meeting will be realized. In the short walk, I wondered if it really has taken 11 years. We have run in the past 100 days with what we have not achieved for 11 years. If we move hand-in-hand with solid will, (the situation) cannot become worse than now,” Kim said.

“I wondered if it would be uncomfortable to meet you here, but my mind was eased by the letter and the conversation with the special envoys. Trust and belief in each other is important,” Kim said.

Indicating Kim Yo-jong

“First Vice Director Kim has become a star in the South,” Moon said, causing a laugh and Kim Yo-jong to blush.

“Today’s protagonists are Chairman Kim and I. Past failures will be mirrors in (conducting the talks) well. In the past, agreements were made at the middle or end of administrations, so action was not taken. It has been one year since I began. I hope that the speed of the process from Chairman Kim’s New Year’s speech and today can be maintained,” Moon said.

“The department of First Vice Director Kim Yo-jong came up with the term ‘Manrima speed,’ let us set it as the speed of reunification,” Kim said.

“There is a saying that one must move quickly to avoid falling in when walking on thin ice,” chief of staff Im Jong-seok said.

“Looking at the past, the most important thing is speed,” Moon said.

“Let us meet often. Steel (our) hearts to avoid going back to the starting point. Let us meet the expectations to create a better world. We will do our part,” Kim said.

Referring to the accident involving Chinese tourists in North Korea

“I heard that there was a big accident in the North. I heard that Chairman Kim personally visited the hospital and offered a special train (for the dead and injured),” Moon said.

“(I) have come to end the history of conflict, to resolve issues between us with the president. I have developed a conviction that a good future will come,” Kim said.

“We are in charge of issues of the Korean Peninsula. At the same time we must become a people who go with the world. We should lead, and bring neighboring countries to follow,” Moon said.

All photos courtesy of Cheong Wa Dae if not mentioned otherwise.

Parts of the 10-country region, encompassing about 650 million people, have long struggled with Islamic militancy and the emergence of IS has served as a new rallying point for radicals and re-energised extremist groups.

A deadly gun and suicide-bombing attack in Indonesian capital Jakarta in 2016 was the first IS-claimed assault in the region, while the Philippine city of Marawi was overrun last year by fighters loyal to the jihadists, triggering a months-long battle that killed hundreds.

Fears are also growing that Southeast Asia, which is home to booming economies where a growing number of people are adopting digital technology in their everyday lives, could be increasingly targeted by cyberattackers.

Opening the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Singapore, Lee warned that IS continues to threaten the region despite their military defeat in Iraq and Syria, while the move towards digitalisation has made countries more vulnerable to cyberattacks.

“Southeast Asia is at peace, but these threats are very real,” he said.

“We need to be resilient to both conventional threats, and also non-conventional threats such as terrorism and cyberattacks.”

The leaders at a working dinner Friday ahead of their formal summit agreed to increase coordination in cybersecurity.

Lee also warned that the open global trading system, which has allowed many of the region’s export-driven economies to flourish, has come under increasing threat due to protectionist policies in major economies.

“The political mood in many countries has shifted against free trade,” he warned.

“In particular, the trade tensions between the US and China are worrying concerns.”

Washington and Beijing have imposed tit-for-tat tariffs on billions of dollars worth of goods which analysts said could escalate into a global trade war and scupper global growth.

Lee said the answer to such rising protectionism is for ASEAN to further push for the deeper integration of their economies and bolster cooperation in other fields.

“Individually, the ASEAN member states will find it hard to make much impact on their own,” Lee said.

“But when we speak in one collective ASEAN voice, we can be effective.”

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.