Pompeo selects executive at Ford Motor Company to lead N. Korea negotiations
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tapped a senior executive at Ford Motor Company as his special envoy for North Korea as the Trump administration continues negotiations to eliminate the country’s nuclear weapons arsenal.
In an announcement at the State Department Thursday, Mr. Pompeo said Stephen Biegun, the vice president of international governmental affairs at Ford, would handle day-to-day talks with Pyongyang, and that the two men would travel to North Korea next week to resume the negotiations.
Mr. Pompeo has continued a pattern set by President Donald Trump to award critical government jobs to people with privatesector experience.
Mr. Pompeo predicted Mr. Biegun, who also served in key foreign policy positions in Congress and the George W. Bush administration, would draw on private sector experience to assist him in his role as a diplomat.
“In this job, he closely engaged foreign governments to advance Ford’s goals all around the world,” Mr. Pompeo said. “He will now employ that same skill and dedication on behalf of the American people to make sure that their interests are well served in respect to North Korea.”
Mr. Pompeo did not say if he planned to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his fourth visit to North Korea. During his third trip, in March, Mr. Pompeo expected to meet the leader, but Mr. Kim did not show up in a visit that U.S. diplomats conceded was a disappointment.
Negotiations have stalled as North Korea demands Washington make concessions before it moves to denuclearize. In particular, Mr. Kim wants the United States to declare an end to the Korean War, according to U.S. and Korean diplomats who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive discussions.
U.S. officials have said any steps toward formally ending the war would first require concessions from North Korea, such as the disclosure of its nuclear arsenal. Some U.S. officials also fear that Pyongyang will use a peace declaration to ask for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea. Mr. Trump has privately expressed frustration with the lack of progress in the talks but has publicly hailed them as a historic success.