South Korea's presidential office has welcomed North Korea's plan to dismantle the country's nuclear test site, hoping that trust between the leaders of the United States and the North will be strengthened by Pyongyang's move ahead of their upcoming summit.

Presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom on Sunday hailed the North Korean Foreign Ministry's announcement that it will dismantle its Punggye-ri nuclear test site between May 23 and 25, and will invite journalists from South Korea, China, Russia, the United States and Britain to witness the dismantling on-site.

The spokesman said that Seoul welcomes the announcement as an expression of the Pyongyang's intention to carry out its agreement, reached during last month's inter-Korean summit, "not through words but through action."

Kim said that South Korea hopes the sound of dynamite blowing up the Punggye-ri tunnels will be a gun salute in a journey toward a Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons.

He added that the North's invitation of foreign journalists shows the country will carry out the operation in a transparent manner.

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