N. Korea urges Trump to drop Pompeo from talks

SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – North Korea said on Thursday it no longer wanted to deal with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and that he should be replaced in talks by someone more mature, hours after it announced its first weapons test since nuclear talks broke down.

North Korea’s state news agency said Kwon Jong Gun, in charge of US affairs at the foreign ministry, had warned that no one could predict what would happen if Washington did not abandon the “root cause” that compelled Pyongyang to develop nuclear weapons.

The statement came shortly after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the test of a new tactical guided weapon, North Korea’s first weapon test since a summit between him and Trump broke down in late February.

US officials appeared to play

down both developments, with acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan telling reporters at the Pentagon that while there had been a test, it was “not a ballistic missile.”

A spokeswoman for the State Department said it was aware of the report about Pompeo and added: “The United States remains ready to engage North Korea in a constructive negotiation.”

Trump has said he is open to another summit with Kim, but his national security adviser, John Bolton, told Bloomberg News on Wednesday there first needed to be “a real indication from North Korea that they’ve made the strategic decision to give up nuclear weapons.”

Kwon said Pompeo had made “reckless remarks hurting the dignity of our supreme leadership,” apparently referring to his agreeing to the characterization of Kim as a “tyrant” at a US congressional hearing last week.