UN-WILLING TO BEND
U.S. is offering no concessions before N. Korea talks: CIA head
THE UNITED STATES will make no concessions ahead of a meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Trump, CIA Director Mike Pompeo said Sunday.
But for the summit to go forward, Kim must meet three conditions he’s agreed to: halting nuclear tests and missile tests and not objecting publicly to U.S. military exercises with South Korea.
Trump administration officials said Sunday they don’t plan to demand any additionalconditionsbeyondthose.
“These are real achievements. These are conditions that the North Korean regime has never submitted to in exchange for conversations,” Pompeo said on “Fox News Sunday.”
“Never before had we had the North Koreans in the position where their economy was at such risk, and where their leadership was under such pressure, that they would begin conversations on the terms that Kim Jong Un has conceded to at this time.”
The U.S. will not make any changes to its own policies, including harsh sanctions against North Korea, in advance of the meeting, he said.
“While these negotiations are going on, there will be no concessions made,” Pompeo said. The CIA chief insisted the meeting isn’t just for show. “President Trump isn’t doing this for theater. He’s going to solve a problem,” he said.
At a rally Saturday night in Pennsylvania in which he poured personal insults on the media and Democrats, the President tried to quiet the boos and jeers that erupted at the mention of Kim.
“No, it’s very positive,” Trump assured the crowd. “After the meeting, you may do that, but now we have to be very nice.”
It’s unclear when and where the Trump-Kim meeting will take place — but deputy White House press secretary Raj Shah told ABC’s “This Week,” that “nothing’s being ruled out,” including hosting the North Korean despot at the White House, or meeting in the North’s capital of Pyongyang, though that wouldn’t be “highly likely.”
Shah added there’s still the “possibility” the meeting could fall apart. “If it does, it’s the North Koreans’ fault — they have not lived up to the promises that they made,” he said.
Former President Barack Obama’s deputy national security adviser, Ben Rhodes, said both he and Obama are hoping Trump’s diplomatic gambit succeeds, but cautioned Team Trump hasn’t shown signs they’re up to such delicate negotiations.
“This is not a real estate deal or a reality show,” Rhodes said on ABC’s “This Week.” Rhodes said a successful meeting would take high-level diplomacy and scientific input — two areas that Trump has frequently derided.
“It cannot just be a mano-a-mano show with Kim Jong Un. That’s not going to yield results,” he said.
Trump agreed on the spot to meet Kim when South Korea’s envoy brought the invitation to the White House, The New York Times reported. CHINA’S parliament has scrapped term limits for presidents and vice presidents, with just two members opposing an amendment revision to give Xi Jinping the power to rule indefinitely. Three others, out of 3,000 delegates of President Xi’s National People’s Congress, chose to abstain from voting Monday in Beijing. Former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping enacted the amendment in 1982 as a government safeguard to prevent another dangerous dictatorship, such as Mao Zedong’s bloody reign. The Communist Party’s Politburo had until recently ruled China under collective leadership, but Xi (photo) has consolidated personal rule.