By Dirk Godder and Andreas Landwehr

McClatchy News Service

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has agreed to take concrete steps toward denuclearization including dismantling its nuclear facilities, South Korean President Moon Jae In said Wednesday following two days of meetings in Pyongyang.

At a joint news conference with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Moon said Kim had agreed to allow in international experts to witness the dismantling of its west coast Sohae missile engine testing facility and launch pad.

However he said that the shutdown of the North’s main nuclear facility, the Yongbyon research center, would be dependent on the U.S. taking corresponding measures.

The South Korean leader also said that the two countries had agreed to launch a bid to jointly host the 2032 Summer Olympics. North Korea took part in the Winter Olympics in South Korea in February.

“We are going to restore normal life,” said Moon, the first South Korean president to visit the North in 11 years.

Kim said meanwhile that he wanted to visit Seoul “soon.”

The news conference came after the two leaders, who were meeting for third time this year following summits in April and May, were broadcast live on television signing an agreement.

Their defense ministers were also shown signing an agreement on reducing military tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The Yongbyon complex houses a nuclear reactor, a fuel reprocessing facility that can recover weapons-grade plutonium and a uranium enrichment facility that can also be used to make nuclear weapons.

Kim had announced his commitment to denuclearization at his previous summits with Moon, as well as at his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in June in Singapore.

However, he had given no concrete details on how and by when the process would be complete and negotiations between the U.S. and North Korea had since stalled.

Moon is scheduled to fly back to Seoul on Thursday.