N Korea's Kim pledges not to repeat 'unfortunate history'

Seoul: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un promised to ensure that the agreement reached with the South's Moon Jae-in at a summit today would be implemented, unlike previous pledges.

The two Koreas will closely co-ordinate to ensure they do not "repeat the unfortunate history in which past inter-Korea agreements...fizzled out after beginning," Kim said after a summit with the South's President Moon Jae-in.

"There may be backlash, hardship and frustration on our way," he added, "but a victory cannot be achieved without pain".

The nuclear-armed North's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction has seen it become increasingly isolated, subject to a series of UN Security Council sanctions.

Panmunjom, where the summit was held in the Demilitarized Zone that divides the two Koreas, was a "symbol of heart-wrenching division", Kim said.