Top U.S. and North Korean
envoys trade barbs at a Singapore security conference in a rollercoaster round of nuclear diplomacy.
SINGAPORE — Rollercoaster nuclear diplomacy between the United States and North Korea hit highs and lows Saturday as the countries’ top diplomats traded polite words and barbs, leaving efforts to rid the North of its atomic weapons at an uncertain juncture.
At a security conference in Singapore, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused North Korea and other countries, including Russia, of continuing to violate U.N. sanctions aimed at pressing Pyongyang to give up its nuclear arsenal.
But at the same time, he oversaw the handover of a letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un from President Donald Trump and exchanged pleasantries with the North’s top diplomat.
North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, meanwhile, greeted Pompeo with a smile, but then delivered a scathing attack on the Trump administration for approaching the negotiation poorly by insisting on sanctions enforcement.
Ri said North Korea would not be forced into acting unilaterally and demanded that the U.S. undertake “confidence building” measures if the negotiation was to be successful.
After Pompeo warned anew that no sanctions would be lifted until North Korea fully and finally denuclearizes, Ri told the annual ASEAN Regional Forum that the North would not be bullied into concessions.
“Confidence is not a sentiment to be cultivated overnight,” he said. “In order to build full confidence between the DPRK and the U.S., it is essential for both sides to take simultaneous actions and phased steps to do what is possible one after another.”
North Korea’s official name is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The U.S. has previously dismissed calls for a phased approach, insisting that sanctions be maintained until the North delivers on its commitments but suggesting that some other steps may be possible.
But instead of responding reciprocally to North Korea’s suspension of nuclear tests and missile launches and other goodwill gestures such as the return of suspected remains of American troops killed in the Korean War, the U.S. has maintained hostility, Ri said.
He also accused Washington of taking “extremely inappropriate moves” by discouraging third countries from sending highlevel delegations to the North’s 70th anniversary celebrations in September.
By the time Ri delivered his remarks, Pompeo had already left the meeting in order to travel to Jakarta for talks with senior Indonesian officials.
As he arrived in Jakarta, the State Department said that a written reply to Kim from Trump had been delivered to Ri in Singapore.
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Trump’s reply to Kim was given to Ri by Sung Kim, the U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines who has been leading logistical negotiations with the North on its pledge to denuclearize.
Nauert would not address the content of Trump’s letter to Kim.
Earlier Saturday, Pompeo warned Russia, China and other countries against any violation of international sanctions on North Korea that could reduce pressure on the North to abandon its nuclear weapons. Pompeo’s comments came on the heels of a new United Nations report that found North Korea has not stopped its nuclear and missile programs and is violating U.N. sanctions, including through illicit shipto-ship transfers of oil.
“If these reports prove accurate, and we have every reason to believe that they are, that would be in violation,” Pompeo said in Singapore, noting that the U.N. Security Council had voted unanimously in favor of the sanctions. “I want to remind every nation that has supported these resolutions that this is a serious issue and something we will discuss with Moscow.”