South Korea's Moon asks U.N. to verify North's nuclear test site shutdown: Yonhap

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrive at the Peace House in the truce village of Panmunjom inside the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, South Korea, April 27, 2018. Korea Summit Press Pool/Pool via Reuters

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean President Moon Jae-in has asked the United Nations to help verify North Korea's planned shutdown of its nuclear test site, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said Tuesday.

Moon made the request in a phone call Tuesday with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Yonhap reported.

Several days before Friday's historic summit between Moon and North Korea's Kim Jong Un, the North had promised to dismantle its Punggye-ri nuclear test site to "transparently guarantee" its dramatic commitment to stop all nuclear and missile tests.

(Reporting by Joori Roh, writing by Malcolm Foster)