Pompeo says U.S. aware of summit’s risks but hopes for success
Secretary of state, Bolton say N. Korea shouldn’t expect aid
WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday that U.S. leaders are fully aware of the risks of President Donald Trump’s upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but they remain hopeful about the prospects for a deal that will result in the denuclearization of North Korea.
“Our eyes are wide open with respect to the risks, but it is our fervent hope that Chairman Kim wants to make a strategic change, a strategic change in the direction for his country and his people,” Pompeo said on “Fox News Sunday.”
In a separate appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Pompeo acknowledged that the North Koreans have not lived up to previous promises to dismantle their nuclear weapons.
“We’re hopeful that this will be different, that we won’t do the traditional model where they do something and we give them a bunch of money and then both sides walk away,” he said. “We’re hoping this will be bigger, different, faster.”
The U.S. goal for the June 12 summit in Singapore is “complete and total denuclearization of North Korea, and it is the president’s intention to achieve that,” Pompeo said.
North Korea’s announcement that it will demolish its nuclear testing site within the next couple of weeks is “good news,” Pompeo said.
“Every single site that the North Koreans have that can inflict risk upon the American people that is destroyed, eliminated, dismantled is good news for the American people and for the world,” he said. “And so this is one step along the way.”
While Trump remains optimistic about the chances for a breakthrough, “I don’t think he has stars in his eyes over this,” National Security Adviser John Bolton said on ABC’s “This Week” with George Stephanopoulos.
“I think what we need to see from Kim Jong Un is that he and the entire North Korean regime have made a strategic decision that they will be better off without weapons of mass destruction,” Bolton said. “And I think one advantage of having this meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong Un so soon … is that President Trump will be able to size Kim Jong Un up and see whether the commitment is real.”
The U.S. is prepared to open trade and investment with North Korea in exchange for elimination of its nuclear program, Bolton said.
But Bolton and Pompeo both emphasized that the North Korean leader should not expect economic aid from the U.S. government.
“What Chairman Kim will get from America is our finest – our entrepreneurs, our risk-takers, our capital providers, not our taxpayers,” Pompeo said. “They will get private capital that comes in. North Korea is desperately in need of energy support, electricity for their people. They’re in great need of agriculture equipment and technology. … We can deliver that.”
Pompeo, who has met twice with the North Korean leader, described him as “professional” and “able to deal with complexity when the conversation requires it.”
Kim follows the Western press, and “he’s paying attention to things the world is saying” about the summit, Pompeo said.