Li’l Rocket ‘slam’
Pompeo rips Kim for dragging feet on denuke accord
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says North Korea is far from living up to its pledge to denuclearize and remains in violation of numerous UN Security Council resolutions.
Speaking Friday before he attends an Asian security forum with North Korea’s foreign minister, Pompeo (inset) told reporters in Singapore there was “still a ways to go before” achieving the goal of ridding the North of its nuclear weapons.
Pompeo’s comments came after the White House announced Thursday that President Trump received a new letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and responded quickly with a letter of his own.
The correspondence, following up on their Singapore summit in June, came amid fresh concerns over Pyongyang’s commitment to denuclearization despite a rosy picture of progress painted by Trump.
Pompeo has taken the lead in negotiations with the North, having traveled to Pyongyang three times since April and accompanied Trump to the summit, and will be in the same room on Saturday as his North Korean counterpart at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations annual regional forum.
A separate meeting between the two was possible, but not confirmed, according to State Department officials.
“Chairman Kim made a commitment to denuclearize,” Pompeo told reporters accompanying him to Singapore from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. “They are in violation of one or both the UN Security Council resolutions.”
On Thursday, Trump tweeted his thanks to the North Korean leader “for your nice letter — I look forward to seeing you soon!”
The White House did not provide details on the specific content of the letter from Kim, received Wednesday, or of Trump’s reply.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the letters addressed their commitment to work toward North Korea’s “complete denuclearization.” Sanders added that no second meeting is “locked in” as a follow-up to the Singapore summit, but they remain open to discussions.
In a related development, the US imposed new sanctions Friday against Russia’s Agrosoyuz Commercial Bank for helping the North Korean regime develop its nuclear-weapons program.
“The United States will continue to enforce UN and US sanctions and shut down illicit revenue streams to North Korea,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said. “Our sanctions will remain in place until we have achieved the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea.”