The report of Kim's visit to the Sungri Motor Complex came hours after the United States put Pyongyang back on the list of state sponsors of terrorism, the latest move to impose maximum pressure in order to restrict North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs. Pyongyang hasn’t yet offered any official reaction towards President Donald Trump’s decision.
South Korea and Japan welcomed Trump’s move to put North Korea back on the terror sponsor list. Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said it will ramp up pressure on the regime to get rid of its nuclear weapons while South Korea’s foreign ministry said it expected the listing to contribute to peaceful denuclearization.