North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country developed nuclear weapons strictly for self-defense and that he was fully committed to denuclearization, former South Korean President Moon Jae-in has revealed in a new memoir.

The 656-page book, titled “From the Periphery to the Center,” was released on May 18 and focuses on Moon’s foreign and defense policies while in office from 2017 to 2022, covering three inter-Korean summits and two U.S.-DPRK summits.

While recalling discussions with Kim during their first summit at Panmunjom in April 2018, Moon wrote that the North Korean leader “repeatedly” and “desperately” made clear to