Pompeo in N.Korea to seek ‘details’ on denuclearization
Hopes to negotiate, agree on a timetable
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Pyongyang Friday to meet Kim Jong-un for a more detailed commitment to denuclearization following the North Korean leader’s historic summit with President Donald Trump.
Pompeo was greeted in the North Korean capital by Kim’s right hand man Kim Yong-chol and Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho.
Since meeting Kim in Singapore last month, Trump has been bullish about hopes for peace, boasting that the threat of nuclear war is over.
Kim agreed to the “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” – a stock phrase favored by Pyongyang that stops short of longstanding US demands for North Korea to give up its atomic arsenal in a “verifiable” and “irreversible” way.
Pompeo has been tasked with negotiating a plan that Washington hopes would involve Kim declaring the extent of his nuclear weapons program and agreeing a timetable for it to be dismantled.
“Our leaders made commitments at the Singapore summit on the complete denuclearization of North Korea,” Pompeo had earlier told reporters travelling with him.
“On this trip I’m seeking to fill in some details on those commitments and continue the momentum toward implementation of what the two leaders promised each other and the world,” he said.
“I expect that the DPRK is ready to do the same,” he added, using the initials of North Korea’s official name – the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Kim Yong-chol welcomed Pompeo to North Korea, noting that it was his third visit to the country.
“The more we meet, the deeper our friendship will be, I hope,” he said. “The more you come, the more trust we can build between one another.”
Pompeo, who will be staying overnight in the North Korean capital for the first time, said he looked forward to a “very productive” encounter.
After a nearly three-hour meeting with Kim Yong-chol, the pair broke up for dinner, with the US side saying that talks would continue Saturday morning.
In a tweet before he landed in Pyongyang, Pompeo said he was “looking forward to continuing our work toward the final, fully verified denuclearization of #DPRK, as agreed to by Chairman Kim.”
Washington hopes that “complete” denuclearization can begin within a year, but many expert observers and Trump critics warn that Kim’s summit promise meant little and the process could take years – if it ever starts.
In the meantime, Pompeo and Trump have vowed to keep in place the international economic sanctions that they believe forced the North to the negotiating table in the first place.