Pompeo on 3rd visit to Pyongyang

US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo is scheduled to start on Thursday his third visit to Pyongyang this year amid rising suspicions in the US that North Korea may renege on its pledge to destroy its nuclear weapons.

Chinese experts said the key to realizing denuclearization is mutual trust between the US and North Korea and the participation of other countries including China, Russia and South Korea along with international organizations.

Pompeo will be visiting Pyongyang from Thursday to Saturday for further consultations and to implement progress made by US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during their meeting in Singapore, the US Department of State said on its website on Monday.

Meanwhile, doubts over North Korea’s commit-

ment to the process are mounting in the US.

CNN reported that the Defense Intelligence Agency of the US believes Pyongyang “has no intention of engaging in a full denuclearization program, at least for now,” an administration official familiar with the agency’s finding told the news network.

Another official told CNN that the agency believes Kim may publicly agree to denuclearization, but will hide some weapons and infrastructure from the US.

Lü Chao, a research fellow on North Korea at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, said that “the US is apparently creating pressure on North Korea through the media so that Pompeo will have leverage in the upcoming talks with North Korea.”

There is no direct evidence which shows that North Korea is rebuilding or continues to construct its nuclear or missile facilities, and images provided by 38North.com – a North Korea monitoring website – are not hard evidence, Lü told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Some analysts said satellite images published on June 26 by 38North.com show infrastructure improvements at some nuclear facilities in North Korea. The website said this “can be expected to proceed until specific orders are issued from Pyongyang.”

Money and politics

Song Zhongping, a military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times that “in practice, the key to denuclearization is money and politics. North Korea has spent a lot of money on its nuclear and missile program, and it will be expensive to demolish them.”

“North Korea can’t afford to do this if the US and its allies don’t help pay for it while economic sanctions remain in place. If the two sides have mutual trust, North Korea may provide details of its nuclear and missile program and reach an agreement on technical issues, but making a timetable for denuclearization is not very realistic at this stage,” Song noted.

Trump said on his Twitter account on Tuesday that the conversation with North Korea is going well, and there had been “no rocket launches or nuclear testing in 8 months.”

“All of Asia is thrilled. Only the opposition party, which includes the fake news, is complaining. If not for me, we would now be at war with North Korea,” Trump said.

The US needs to reaffirm its security promise to North Korea, reduce sanctions step by step and provide aid if it is to keep North Korea from restarting any nuclear program, Lü said.

With the US and North Korea haunted by trust issues, the denuclearization process may require greater international participation, said Lü.

He added that involving China, Russia, South Korea and international organizations like the International Atomic Energy Agency and the UN would make the process more transparent and trustworthy.