Pompeo rules out North funds till denuclearisation

Seoul, June 14: Kim Jong Un understands that denuclearisation must happen “quickly”, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday, warning there will be no sanctions relief for Pyongyang until the process is complete.

Washington remained committed to the “complete, verifiable and irreversible” denuclearisation of North Korea, Pompeo added, after the historic summit drew criticism for its vague wording on plans for Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.

“We believe that Kim understands the urgency... that we must do it quickly,” he said of the effort to have North Korea abandon its nuclear weapons.

Washington’s top diplomat was in Seoul to brief his South Korean and Japanese counterparts after US President Donald Trump’s post-summit comments sparked confusion and concern in Tokyo and Seoul. However, Pompeo insisted at a joint press meet with the two countries’ foreign ministers that there was no daylight among the allies on how to achieve denuclearisation of North Korea. Kang Kyungwha, the South Korean foreign minister said the matter will be left to military authorities. — AFP