Pompeo to lead UN Security Council meeting on N Korea

Washington, US - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will chair a meeting of the UN Security Council on North Korea on September 27 to urge the international community to keep up the pressure on Pyongyang.

The meeting of top diplomats will take place on the sidelines of the United Nations Annual General Assembly.

“Secretary Pompeo intends to chair a UNSC ministerial on North Korea on Thursday September the 27th,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.

“At that meeting he will get the secretary a chance to update the Security Council on our efforts toward the final fully verified denuclearisation of North Korea as well as underscore the need for all member states to enforce existing sanctions.”

Pompeo has been pushing a tough stance against Pyongyang in recent months, including at the UN, warning that global pressure has eased since the June summit in Singapore between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

On Monday, the US Ambassador to the UN accused Russia of cheating to bypass the sanctions regime.

Trump has also expressed doubts in recent weeks about China’s attitude. Kim Jong-un reiterated in Singapore commitment to ‘full denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula’. But the terms and timing have been postponed to further bilateral talks, which have stalled. Washington has pledged to keep up pressure and sanctions until the denuclearisation is at least on track.