Trump ‘in no rush’ as Korea talks stall
Thursday meeting to be rescheduled while signs of nuclear impasse grow
WASHINGTON— President Donald Trump said Wednesday the U.S. is “in no rush” after talks between his top diplomat and a senior North Korean envoy were postponed, throwing stalled diplomacy over the North’s nuclear weapons into further uncertainty. Trump said the meeting, which had been due to take place on Thursday in New York, would be rescheduled.
He said he still expects to hold a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un early next year.
Neither side has properly explained why the planned talks between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Kim Yong Chol, a key aide of the North Korean leader, were postponed.
A State Department spokesperson, Robert Palladino, described it as “purely a matter of scheduling,” but refused to elaborate. The department said the meeting would take place at an unspecified later date, “when our respective schedules permit.”
North Korea’s propaganda services have not mentioned the meeting.
There’s been little diplomatic progress in the five months since the June summit in Singapore where the U.S. and North Korean leaders committed to “denuclearization” of the divided Korean Peninsula.
Signs are growing of an impasse over how to achieve that goal.
News of the postponement came after North Korea’s Foreign Ministry criticized the U.S. for its continued support of sanctions and hinted it may resume nuclear development.
During a news conference on Wednesday, Trump contended he had made more progress with North Korea than past administrations.
He said that with sanctions still in place, he was not in a hurry to reach a deal with Pyongyang.
“I would love to take the sanctions off, but they have to be responsive too. It’s a two-way street. But we’re not in any rush at all. There’s no rush whatsoever,” Trump told reporters.
In Seoul, South Korean presidential spokesperson Kim Euikyeom said his government doesn’t believe U.S.-North Korea negotiations have completely broken down.