Pyongyang

Nuclear setback: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s planned meeting with his North Korean counterpart in New York was called off at the last minute this week, just days after the regime of dictator Kim Jong Un threatened to restart its nuclear weapons program unless the U.S. lifted sanctions. No reason was given for the canceled meeting, and the State Department said the talks “will now take place at a later date.” The cancellation is a sign of the growing rift between Washington and Pyongyang. North Korea says it has honored the vague denuclearization deal agreed on by Kim and President Trump in Singapore in June, having dismantled a missile-launch site and a nuclear-testing facility. It now wants the U.S. to lift sanctions, which U.S. officials refuse to do before the North’s complete and verified denuclearization.