U.S., North Korean diplomats trade handshakes, jabs

week, which White House spokeswoman Sarah HuckabeeSaunders characterized as a “follow-up” to their June summit in Singapore. In his own tweet, Mr. Trump described Kim’s letter as “nice,” breezily adding, “I look forwardto seeing you soon!”

But things at the Singapore conference went downhill after Mr. Pompeo departed for Indonesia: Mr. Ri waited until then to deliver a sharp attack on the United States in remarksat the forum.

Though he said the North Korean government remains committed to a joint statement that followed a summit betweenMr.TrumpandMr.Kim in June, Mr. Ri criticized the White House for insisting on maintaining sanctions until disarmament is complete and demanded “confidence-building”measuresalongtheway.

“What is alarming, however, is the insistent moves manifested within the U.S. to go back to the old; far from its leader’sintention,” Mr. Ri said.

The divergent rhetoric underscored the difficulties that have hampered previous attempts to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear and missile programs. It also was reminiscent of Mr. Pompeo’s last visit to North Korea in July, when he declared the meetings “productive,” but North Korea hours later would say the U.S. approach was“gangster-like.”

Previous negotiators have seen similar rapid-fire mood swings from Pyongyang. This is just North Korea’s style of negotiating and indicates any talks would probably take many months if not years.

Mr. Pompeo has acknowledged talks will be difficult and strung-out, but he said Saturday that he remains optimistic that eventually the two sides can reach a deal to end the North’s nuclear weapons program.

Pyongyang’s willingness to truly denuclearize has come into question lately. A confidential report by the United Nations, shown to reporters on Friday, says North Korea has violated numerous U.N. Security Council sanctions by continuing to develop its nuclear weapons and missile programs. Last week came reports that intelligence agencies believe the North is developingnew missiles.

Much of the discord stems from differences in how Washington and Pyongyang view the pace of rewards to North Korea if it proceeds dismantling its weapons programs. Mr. Pompeo has insisted that the United States expects total denuclearization and that sanctions will remain in place until the process is complete. North Korea, officially named the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), has demanded a phased approach, with sanctions eased in several steps as ashow of goodwill.

“Confidence is not a sentiment to be cultivated overnight,” Mr. Ri said in his remarks after Mr. Pompeo’s departure. “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.”

Mr. Ri added: “Only when the U.S. ensures that we feel comfortable with and come close to it, will we be able to open our minds to the U.S. and show it in action.”

An administration official brushed off the remarks as growing pains in a still-developing relationship that has been wobbly at times.

“This is to be expected,” said the official, speaking on thecondition of anonymity to discuss the criticism frankly. “We’re building a relationship with North Korea after years of difficult relations.”

Mr. Pompeo used the ASEAN meeting to hold meetings with diplomats from more than two dozen countries to urge their governments to keep up the economic pressure on Pyongyang until its nuclear weapons program is irreversibly dismantled.

At a news conference, Mr. Pompeo noted reports that Russia was entering into joint ventures with companies in the North and granted new work permits to North Korean guest workers. He said the United States believes the reports, first publishedin the Wall Street Journal, are accurate and would violate a U.N. Security Council resolution restricting tradewith North Korea.

“I want to remind every nation that has supported these resolutions that this is a serious issue and something that we will discuss with Moscow,” he said.