Pompeo: U.S. agreed to ‘alter’ Korea armistice at summit

President Donald Trump has agreed to “alter” the 1953 armistice halting the Korean War if North Korea gives up its nuclear weapons, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, revealing an apparent promise from Trump’s summit with Kim Jong Un that wasn’t announced at the time.

“He has made very clear his commitment to fully denuclearize his country,” Pompeo said of the North Korean leader during a speech at the Detroit Economic Club on Tuesday. “In return for that, the president has committed to making sure that we alter the armistice agreement, provide the security assurances that Chairman Kim needs.”

Before the June 12 summit, Trump raised the possibility that a formal peace treaty ending the Korean War of 1950-1953 could be one outcome of his meeting with Kim. But the joint statement the pair signed made no such promise. Instead, it said only that the U.S. and North Korea would “join their efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.”

Asked about Pompeo’s comment, a National Security Council official, who asked not to be identified speaking about private deliberations, declined to confirm what Pompeo said. The official said only that the two sides had committed to the building of a peace mechanism whose eventual goal would be to replace the armistice.

– Appeal-democrat news services