Pompeo seeks North Korea results
Stops in Japan, China part of three-day tour
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo headed off to North Korea on Friday under pressure to produce tangible progress at persuading the country to get rid of its nuclear weapons as President Donald Trump seeks a second summit with leader Kim Jong Un.
Pompeo departed Washington for a packed, three-day tour of East Asia that will take him to Japan, North Korea and then South Korea. He’s also due to visit China, which will bring its own set of challenges, as relations with Beijing slide over trade tensions and accusations of election interference.
But it’s in Pyongyang on Sunday where Pompeo could face his toughest diplomatic test.
Pompeo, who was snubbed by
Kim on his last visit to Pyongyang in July, is expected to meet him this time, but experts say Kim may feel that he can get a better deal in a face-to-face with Trump himself.
“I’m not sure if we are going to get a whole lot of progress other than details of the next Trump-kim summit,” said Sue Mi Terry, a former CIA analyst on Korea and now a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “I think the North Koreans will try and save the actual negotiations for when Kim meets with Trump.”
Pompeo has refused to discuss the details of negotiations so far. Speaking on his plane Friday, Pompeo again declined to talk specifics. He 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.
On Wednesday, Pompeo distanced himself from a previously stated goal of getting North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons by the end of Trump’s first term in January 2021. Trump, who canceled Pompeo’s first plan for a fourth trip to Pyongyang last month citing a lack of progress, said last week he didn’t want to get into a “time game.”