US dragging its feet on nuclear deal, NKorea says

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea’s top diplomat accused the United States of failing to live up to President Donald Trump’s agreement with its leader, Kim Jong Un, warning Saturday that the country would not start denuclearizing unless Washington took reciprocal actions.

Speaking in a closed-door session at a regional security forum in Singapore, Ri Yong Ho, North Korea’s foreign minister, said his country had taken a series of actions toward denuclearization, such as halting nuclear and missile tests, demolishing an underground nuclear test site and dismantling a missile engine test site.

But Ri said Washington was dragging its feet in taking corresponding measures to build mutual confidence and improve ties with Pyongyang. Such steps, Ri said, include easing sanctions and declaring an end to the 1950-53 Korean War as a prelude to negotiating a formal peace treaty to replace the armistice that halted the war 65 years ago.

Trump and Kim held their historic summit in Singapore on June 12, signing a document in which Kim committed to work toward a “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” while Trump promised to provide security guarantees to the North and build “new” bilateral U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, greets North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho as they prepare for a group photo at the 25th ASEAN regional forum in Singapore. relations. They recognized that “mutual confidence building can promote the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

But frustration has since mounted on both sides, as each has accused the other of not living up to the Singapore agreement.

North Korea “stands firm in its determination and commitment for implementing the DPRKU.S. joint statement in a responsible and good-faith manner,” Ri said Saturday, referring to the Singapore agreement. “What is alarming, however, is the insistent moves manifested within the U.S. to go back to

the old, far from its leader’s intention.”

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who also attended the security forum, shook hands and chatted briefly with Ri when participants gathered for a group photo, but he was not present when Ri made his statement. An American diplomat later handed Ri a letter from Trump to Kim.

Trump had received a letter from Kim this past week. It remained unclear what Trump and Kim discussed through their correspondence.

Speaking at a news conference, Pompeo stressed the importance of keeping

economic and diplomatic pressure on North Korea. But his appeal came as reports emerged indicating that sanctions against North Korea were not being enforced as effectively as the United States hoped for.

A confidential United Nations report, leaked to the media over the weekend, said that North Korea was continuing with both its nuclear and missile programs. The report said it had increased illegal ship-to-ship transfers of oil products at sea to evade sanctions and enlisted a Syrian arms broker to sell weapons to Yemen and Libya.