Secretary of state molds a bridge of ‘trust’
Pompeo talks it over with former N. Korea spy chief
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spent nearly three hours with North Korea’s former spy chief in Pyongyang, the capital, on the first full day of his mission to move the government closer to serious negotiations on getting rid of its nuclear arsenal.
Pompeo and Kim Yong Chol, considered the second most powerful person inNorthKorea, held talks at the Park Hwa Won guesthouse compound.
It was Pompeo’s third visit to the once-closed country, his first since the June 12 summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un that set the disarmament talks in motion. Other than a tweet from Pompeo, few details emerged after the session.
“We just wrapped our first meeting of the day,” Pompeowrote onTwitter at whatwas early Friday inthe United States. “I’m proud of my team’swork.”
“The more you come, more trust we can build between one another,” Kim Yong Chol told Pompeo in an exchange of pleasantries while the small contingent of reporters traveling with the secretary was briefly allowed in the room.
Pompeo concurred and added, “I’m looking forward to our time together today.”
He joked that at the rate he was visiting North Korea, he’dhave to start paying taxes. Kim Yong Chol, who remains a top official in the ruling Workers Party of Korea after his stint as intelligence chief, was introduced to Americans last month when he was pictured delivering a jumbo letter fromKimtoTrump at the WhiteHouse.
He is under U.S. sanctions because he allegedly ordered the 2010 attack ona South Korean naval vessel that killed 46 sailors.
Reporters said the mood seemed relaxed, and the two men did not utter the words “nuclear,” “weapons,” and “denuclearization” in their opening remarks. A second meeting was scheduled for later but it was not yet clear who would be sitting across the table fromPompeo.
Having neither a confirmed, consistent interlocutor from the Korean side — so far, it’s only been Kim Jong Un or Kim Yong Chol— nor amore clear-cut agenda underscores the obstacles to what would be grueling negotiations in the best of circumstances.
“They need to agree on a framework … so it’s not improv theater featuring Mike Pompeo,” said Daryl Kimball, a nonproliferation expert with the Arms Control Association, aWashington policy organization.
“You don’twant improvisational diplomacy here,” Kimball said. “You need structure and pace before you get down to a very detailed negotiation.”
Pompeo is under pressure to confirm Pyongyang’s commitment to “work toward complete denuclearization” of theKorean peninsula. That was the pledge Kim and Trump signed in a brief, vague joint declaration at the summit.
A first step could be North Korea’s agreement to amore extensive and verifiable freeze on its nuclear and missile production.
According to Kimball and other experts, only when a solid framework for future U.S.-North Korea meetings is established will the administration be able to work on basic steps, like drawing up an inventory of North Korea’s arsenal and a schedule for disarmament.
North Korea is believed to have up to 60 nuclear devices and many ballistic missiles as well as a vast, hidden system for developing both.
Although Kim has not conducted tests of longrange missiles or nuclear devices in recent months, there is no indication he has halted production and development efforts, including enrichment of uranium, experts have said.
Newsatellite imagery shows rapid infrastructure improvements at Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center, the main nuclear facility north of Pyongyang, according to 38 North, a group of analysts specializing inNorthKorea.
The group reported Friday on more images that it said showed additional activity at Yongbyon, including testing of a nuclearreactor cooling system. The reactor was not yet operational as of June 14, the group said.
Several congressional Democrats on Friday demanded the House Foreign Affairs Committee hold hearings on the expansion ofNorthKorea’s arsenal.
The South Korean newspaper Chosun reported that Pompeo took as a gift for Kim Jong Un a CD of Elton John, autographed by Trump and containing the song “Rocket Man” — the president’s nickname for Kim last year as they lobbed hostile words and threats prior to this year’swarming.
Pompeo declined to confirm the report.