Pompeo sees hard road ahead

Tokyo, July 8

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo brushed off North Korean charges that he used “gangster-like” diplomacy in negotiations in Pyongyang, saying on Sunday after meeting his Japanese and South Korean counterparts that he would continue to pursue denuclearisation talks with North Korea.

Pompeo said in Tokyo there was still a lot of work to do, but he was confident North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would stick to a commitment to abandon nuclear weapons he made during a summit with US President Donald Trump in Singapore last month.

Pompeo’s meeting with Japan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Taro Kono and South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha followed Pompeo’s two days of talks in Pyongyang that ended on Saturday.

“When we spoke to them about denuclearisation, they did not push back,” Pompeo told a news conference. “The road ahead will be difficult and challenging and we know that critics will try to minimise the work that we’ve achieved.” Pompeo spoke after North Korea said the talks “brought us in a dangerous situation where we may be shaken in our unshakable will for denuclearisation, rather than consolidating trust.” 

The statement was carried by the official KCNA news agency on Saturday soon after Pompeo left Pyongyang, raising questions about the future of the talks in which he is trying to persuade Pyongyang to give up a nuclear weapons programme that threatens the US.

Kim made a broad commitment in Singapore to “work toward denuclearisation” but did not give details on how or when he would dismantle North Korea’s nuclear programme. Trump in turn offered security guarantees to Pyongyang and pledged a halt to large-scale military drills with South Korea.

North Korea’s latest comments, which came after Pompeo said talks had made progress, were a reminder of the difficulties that previous US administrations have had negotiating with the reclusive state. Leaked US intelligence findings have concluded that North Korea does not intend to give up its nuclear programme completely.

Some analysts have expressed alarm that the talks appear to have run into difficulties, although others see a possible North Korean negotiating ploy. — Reuters

Kim urged to follow Vietnam’s example 

• US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday urged North Korea to follow the example of Vietnam, saying President Donald Trump believed Pyongyang could replicate Hanoi’s path to normal relations with Washington and to prosperity
• But for that to happen, its leader Kim Jong Un needed to seize the moment. Pompeo said he hoped the United States could one day share the same level of partnership with North Korea as it did with Vietnam, a long-time former enemy