US cool on Kim’s demand

US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have brushed aside North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s demand for Washington to show more flexibility in nuclear talks this year.

Asked about Mr Kim’s statement last week that he was only interested in meeting Mr Trump again if the US came with the right attitude, Mr Pompeo said the president was “determined to move forward diplomatically”.

But he said the North Korean leader had committed to denuclearise and “we collectively need to see that outcome move forward”.

Mr Trump and Mr Kim have met twice, in Hanoi in February and Singapore last June, seeming to build personal goodwill but failing to agree a deal to lift sanctions in exchange for North Korea abandoning its nuclear and missile programs.

The Hanoi talks collapsed after Mr Trump proposed a “big deal” in which sanctions would be lifted if North Korea handed over all its nuclear weapons to the US. He rejected partial denuclearisation steps offered by Mr Kim.

In a speech to North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly on Friday, Mr Kim said it was “essential for the US to quit its current calculation method and approach us with a new one”.

He said North Korea would “wait for a bold decision from the US with patience until the end of this year”, raising the potential for the unresolved North Korea nuclear issue to become a liability for Mr Trump during his 2020 reelection bid.

In a speech in Minnesota, the president nevertheless maintained an upbeat tone on North Korea, saying the issue was “moving along” with Pyongyang sticking to a freeze in nuclear and missile testing in place since 2017.