North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday pledged to permanently dismantle his country's major nuclear complex if the United States takes reciprocal actions, in talks with South Korean President Moon Jae In.

At the two-day summit in Pyongyang, held amid a deadlock in denuclearization negotiations between the three countries, Kim also promised to visit Seoul "in the near future," possibly by the end of this year.

If realized, Kim would be the first North Korean leader to travel to the South Korean capital.

[Pyeongyang Press Corps]

Kim reconfirmed the importance of close cooperation in achieving "complete" denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, which was agreed in June between him and U.S. President Donald Trump in return for security guarantees from Washington.

"We have agreed to make positive efforts to make the Korean Peninsula a land of peace that has no nuclear weapons and nuclear threat," Kim said at a press conference with Moon after they signed a joint declaration.

Moon said, "The South and North have agreed on ways to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula for the first time. It is a very meaningful achievement."

Trump is struggling to convince Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear and missile programs without any preconditions, but the U.S. president tweeted the outcome of the latest summit was "Very exciting!"

In May, North Korea dismantled Punggye-ri, its only known nuclear test site. By committing to taking additional denuclearization measures, Kim appears to be trying to reopen negotiations with Trump.

(Joint press conference)
[Pyeongyang Press Corps]

In addition to showing his readiness to shut down the nuclear complex in Yongbyon in the country's northwest, Kim pledged to permanently close North Korea's key missile test site in Tongchang-ri in the presence of international experts.

The two Koreas agreed to operate a joint military committee to discuss how to avoid conflicts and a number of agreements between him and Moon on bilateral issues, written in the declaration, also included resuming industrial and tourism projects when conditions are met and seeking to co-host the 2032 Summer Olympics.

A jointly-run industrial park at the North Korean border city of Kaesong and tours by South Koreans to the North's Mt. Kumgang resort were suspended when tensions between the two divided countries escalated.

[Pyeongyang Press Corps]

Moon, who has expressed willingness to serve as a broker between the United States and North Korea, is scheduled to hold a meeting with Trump on Monday in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, according to South Korea's presidential office.

Moon is expected to brief Trump on the latest inter-Korean summit.

At their talks the previous day, Kim thanked Moon for his role in coordinating the historic summit in Singapore, indicating his eagerness to continue talks with Washington.

Moon's three-day visit to Pyongyang from Tuesday -- the first by the South Korean president in 11 years -- came amid doubts over whether North Korea really intends to get rid of its nuclear arsenal.

The United States has criticized North Korea for not doing enough to fulfill the agreement made at the June 12 summit in Singapore.

Although Trump has called on Pyongyang to give up all its nuclear weapons immediately, Kim has apparently been attempting to win rewards for each step it takes in the denuclearization process.

Trump expresses excitement over latest inter-Korean summit

North Korea has been aiming to break the deadlock in negotiations with the United States with the backing of South Korea, foreign affairs experts say.

With expectations growing that a second summit between Trump and Kim may take place by the end of this year, observers say Moon might have convinced the North Korean leader to make some concessions.

Kim has also cozied up to Moon to obtain economic aid from Seoul, as North Korea's economy is believed to be suffering from international sanctions designed to curtail its development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

The United States worries that South Korea may be inclined to provide the support North Korea wants, lessening the impact of the economic sanctions.

Relations between the two Koreas significantly improved after Kim sent athletes to the Pyeongchang Winter Games hosted by the South and for the first time in Olympic history, they formed a unified team.

Before the summit in the capital of North Korea, Moon and Kim met twice, in April and May, at the truce village of Panmunjeom.

At their first summit on April 27, the two Korean leaders issued the Panmunjeom Declaration calling for efforts to declare a formal end to the 1950-1953 Korean War by the end of this year, as well as denuclearization.

In the war, U.S.-led multinational forces fought alongside South Korea against North Korea, which was backed by China and the Soviet Union. Hostilities ceased with an armistice agreement signed on July 27, 1953, by the U.N. Command, North Korea's military and Chinese armed forces.