Pompeo seeks allied unity
US-Japan alliance is ‘more robust’
TOKYO, Oct 6, (Agencies): US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pledged Saturday that the Trump administration’s effort to get North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons would be fully coordinated with allies Japan and South Korea, as he prepared to travel to Pyongyang under pressure to produce tangible progress toward that goal.
Pompeo met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on the eve of his fourth visit to North Korea, during which he’ll be looking to arrange a second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and plot a path forward on denuclearization. Japan, notably, has been wary of Trump’s initiative, fearing it could affect its long-standing security relationship with the US.
Pompeo told Abe that it is important for him to hear from the Japanese leader “so we have a fully coordinated and unified view” and vowed to raise the cases of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea when he sees Kim and officials in Pyongyang on Sunday. Pompeo will then travel to South Korea and China to review the negotiations.
“It is important for us to hear from you as I travel to Pyongyang to make sure that we are fully in sync with respect to missile programs, (chemical and biological weapons) programs,” Pompeo told Abe. “We will bring up the issue of the abductees as well and then we will share with you how we hope to proceed when we are in Pyongyang tomorrow.”
Pompeo’s diplomatic offensive comes as Trump presses to meet with Kim for a second time after their June summit in Singapore produced a vague agreement on denuclearization with few, if any, specifics. Despite the historic meeting, the two sides are deadlocked over how to achieve that goal and Trump canceled Pompeo’s initial planned return to North Korea last month.
In contrast with South Korea, whose President Moon Jae-in has been at the forefront of encouraging Trump’s rapprochement with the North, Japan has been decidedly cautious, insisting that its interests and concerns be addressed.
Abe did not speak of differences but highlighted the importance of demonstrating to the world that the US-Japan alliance is “more robust than ever” and stressing the importance of “thorough coordination” with Washington on all aspects of North Korea policy.
Pompeo has repeatedly refused to discuss details of negotiations, including a US position on North Korea’s demand for a declared end to the Korean War and a proposal from Seoul for such a declaration to be accompanied by a shutdown of its main known nuclear facility.
Speaking aboard his plane on Friday, Pompeo said his mission was to “make sure that we understand what each side is truly trying to achieve ... and how we can deliver against the commitments that were made” in Singapore. He said they would develop options, if not finalize, the location and timing of a second Trump-Kim summit.
He has also distanced himself from an earlier stated goal of achieving North Korea’s nuclear weapons abandonment by the end of Trump’s term in January 2021.
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China will be part of the solution to the North Korean crisis, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday, brushing aside the possibility that worsening US tensions with Beijing could hamper efforts to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.
Speaking to a pool reporter en route to his fourth visit this year to North Korea, Pompeo said the aim of his talks in Pyongyang at the weekend would be “to make sure we understand what each side is truly trying to achieve.”
He said he also hoped to be able to agree a “general date and location” for a second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.