‘Bad deal’ with Kim not an option
US ready to walk away from North Korea summit
WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday that the United States would leave negotiations with North Korea if the upcoming meeting on leader Kim Jong Un’s nuclear program goes south.
“A bad deal is not an option. The American people are counting on us to get this right. If the right deal is not on the table, we will respectfully walk away,” Pompeo said during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing.
The nation’s top diplomat has said that the United States is still working toward holding a historic summit with North Korea on June12 in Singapore.
He called denuclearization of North Korea “our top national security priority.”
“The maximum pressure campaign of diplomatic and economic sanctions is bearing fruit” and was supported by allies, Pompeo said.
“Our posture will not change until we see credible steps taken toward the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
He said the administration is “cleareyed about the regime’s history.”
Past agreements with North Korea have resulted in many broken promises. “It’s time to solve this once and for all,” he said.
Pompeo has met twice with Kim Jong Un, once in April as CIA director and earlier this month as secretary of state when he brought back three U.S. detainees held by North Korea.
Kim appeared genuine and engaged in conversation, Pompeo said.
“He knows the file. He doesn’t use notes. We had real conversations, not stilted talking points like we’ve had in the past with the North Koreans,” Pompeo said.
Pompeo defined “denuclearization” as Trump’s goal for North Korea to eliminate its nuclear weapons arsenal, and its capacity to develop and deliver such weapons.