Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Pompeo to ‘fill in’ denuclearisation details with Kim
US SECRETARY of State Mike Pompeo met North Korean officials in Pyongyang, hoping to “fill in” details on how to dismantle the North’s nuclear programme and recover the remains of US troops missing from the Korean War.
Pompeo met Kim Yong Chol, who played a key role with Pompeo in arranging last month’s summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore, according to reporters travelling with him.
The talks lasted nearly three hours.
“We just wrapped our first meeting of the day,” Pompeosaid. “I’m proud of my team’s work.”
At the Singapore summit, Kim Jong Un made a broad commitment to “work toward denuclearisation” but fell short of details on how or when he would dismantle North Korea’s nuclear programme, pursued in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.
Pompeo said he was seeking to “fill in” some details on North Korea’s commitments and maintain the momentum towards implementing them.
Also high on the agenda is the issue of the remains of US soldiers missing from the 195053 Korean War.
Both matters are considered essential tests of whether Kim is serious about negotiations.
While, in the past, the Pentagon said North Korean officials had indicated they had the remains of as many as 200 US troops, a US military official familiar with the procedures for handling remains said it was not clear what North Korea might hand over.
Some officials in the State and Defence Departments and in US intelligence agencies are worried that Trump has put himself at a disadvantage.
Ahead of the summit, Pompeo said Trump would reject anything short of “complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation”. But following talks on Sunday between US envoy Sung Kim and North Korean counterparts, this “CVID” language appears to have disappeared from the State Department lexicon.
The US goal was redefined as “the final, fully verified denuclearisation” of the country. Some US officials and experts said this amounted to a softening in approach.
– Reuters