North Korea making bomb fuel despite denuclearisation pledge: Pompeo

[webfact]

North Korea making bomb fuel despite denuclearisation pledge: Pompeo

By David Brunnstrom

 

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrives to testify before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing titled "An Update on American Diplomacy to Advance Our National Security Strategy" on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 25, 2018. REUTERS/Aaron Bernstein

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea is continuing to produce fuel for nuclear bombs in spite of its pledge to denuclearize, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday, even as he argued that the Trump administration was making progress in talks with Pyongyang.

 

Asked at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing whether North Korea was still making bomb fuel, Pompeo responded to Democratic Senator Ed Markey by saying: "Yes, that's correct ... Yes, they continue to produce fissile material."

 

Pompeo declined to respond when asked whether North Korea was continuing to pursue submarine-launched ballistic missiles or whether its nuclear programme was advancing generally.

 

He said he would be happy to answer the latter question if necessary in a classified setting, but suggested public statements on the issue would not help "a complex negotiation with a difficult adversary."

 

Pompeo defended what he termed progress in talks with North Korea stemming from an unprecedented June 12 summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in sometimes testy exchanges with sceptical lawmakers from both parties.

 

He said the United States was engaged in "patient diplomacy" to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons, but would not let the process "drag out to no end."

 

Briefing on his July 5-7 visit to North Korea, Pompeo said he had emphasized this position in "productive" discussions with his North Korean interlocutor, Kim Yong Chol.

 

He said Trump remained upbeat about the prospects for North Korean denuclearisation, but Kim needed to follow through on his summit commitments.

 

Pompeo said U.S. North Korea policy was guided by a principle stated by Trump on July 17 that "diplomacy and engagement are preferable to conflict and hostility."

 

Trump has hailed his summit with Kim as a success, even saying the day after that North Korea no longer posed a nuclear threat, but questions have been mounting about Pyongyang's willingness to give up a nuclear weapons programme that threatens the United States.

 

Kim committed in a broad summit statement to work towards denuclearisation but Pyongyang has offered no details as to how it might go about this.

 

Pompeo left Pyongyang on July 7 saying he had made progress on key issues, only for North Korea to accuse his delegation hours later of making "gangster-like" demands.

 

Pompeo reiterated that North Korea had agreed to denuclearize. However, he did not respond when asked by Senator Bob Menendez whether Pyongyang agreed with the U.S. definition of denuclearisation, except to say he was fully confident North Korea understood this.

 

DEMOCRAT DENOUNCES "REALITY TV ‘SUMMIT'"

Menendez, the ranking member of the committee, called Trump's meeting with Kim "a reality TV ‘summit’ that was little more than a photo-op with a brutal dictator."

 

“We have seen only a vague agreement of promises to make more promises - but with weaker commitments than North Korea has previously made," he said.

 

Pompeo conceded that there was an "awful long way to go" with North Korea but in answer to a question, said the U.S. goal was for North Korea's complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearisation by the end of Trump's current term in office, which runs until January 2021, and "more quickly if possible."

 

Trump said last week there was "no rush" and "no time limit" on the denuclearisation negotiations, but Pompeo has given varying statements about how patient Washington might be.

 

He rejected Markey's suggestion that the United States was being "taken for a ride" by North Korea, replying, "fear not senator, fear not.”

 

However he indicated that no progress had been made on a key U.S. demand - that North Korea disclose the range of its nuclear capabilities, saying: "An initial declaration ... is something that is at the very forefront of what ... we think, makes sense to get them to a point where we can verify their full denuclearisation."

 

The Republican chairman of the committee, Bob Corker, criticized Trump for saying that Kim was "very talented" and that "he loves his people," given the country's serious human rights abuses and the death of U.S. college student Otto Warmbier after imprisonment there.

 

"Really?" Corker said.

 

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom, Lesley Wroughton and Daphner Psaledakis; Editing by James Dalgleish)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-07-26

[JAG]

How can it be?

 

The "great deal maker had it sorted..."

[bristolboy]

"Pompeo declined to respond when asked whether North Korea was continuing to pursue submarine-launched ballistic missiles or whether its nuclear programme was advancing generally.

 

He said he would be happy to answer the latter question if necessary in a classified setting, but suggested public statements on the issue would not help "a complex negotiation with a difficult adversary."

 

Pompeo is a typical lying liberal negativist trying to make us believe that the problem is not solved and that North Korea is no longer a nuclear threat.

[Emster23]

' Pompeo is a typical lying liberal negativist ...." Liberal? Liberal?

N Korea might say "It's not for us; for export only." That should help everyone sleep better

[Tug]

Donald got played by a backwards hillbilly dictator Pompeo is trying to put a positive spin on trumps mega failure

[Srikcir]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

a principle stated by Trump on July 17 that "diplomacy and engagement are preferable to conflict and hostility." 

 

6 hours ago, webfact said:

North Korea is continuing to produce fuel for nuclear bombs in spite of its pledge to denuclearize

I don't recall the words "fuel for nuclear bombs" in the summit declaration. Nor was there any timetable for the alleged "denuclearization." In fact in June 2018 Pompeo stated:

• "there is no timeline for North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons"
• “I am not going to put a timeline on it, whether that’s two months, six months, we are committed to moving forward in an expeditious moment to see if we can achieve what both leaders set out to do" (my underline)

https://nypost.com/2018/06/25/pompeo-no-timeline-for-north-korean-denuclearization/

From Kim's perspective making fuel for nuclear bombs may be considered diplomacy - assurance to protect North Korea's sovereignty against those (ie., senior American POTUS advisors) who call for regime change. In fact Kim has avoided "hostile acts" and has been proceeding with further engagement with South Korea to improve relations.

[ChouDoufu]

why shouldn't they?  the "agreement" at the summit was simply a promise to engage in talks leading to disarmament.

 

the negotiations haven't even started, sowhy not produce more fuel?  that would give them more to trade to get a better deal.

 

same reason iran went from 3000-ish centrifuges to half a gazillion.  just bargaining chips to trade away to end sanctions.

[utalkin2me]

46 minutes ago, ChouDoufu said:

why shouldn't they?  the "agreement" at the summit was simply a promise to engage in talks leading to disarmament.

 

the negotiations haven't even started, sowhy not produce more fuel?  that would give them more to trade to get a better deal.

 

same reason iran went from 3000-ish centrifuges to half a gazillion.  just bargaining chips to trade away to end sanctions.

Exactly right. The closer these countries get, the more negotiating leverage and power they get. The same type of power and leverage we realize. Why would they stop? None of it makes any sense of course because there are infantiles on both sides. Why would a country disarm if you wont? That has to be the solution one day, if there ever is one... you denuclearize, and we will stop pursuit. 

[utalkin2me]

This is all just cowboys and indians on a bigger scale. And, how should the indians respond if the cowboys say "we have guns, but you can't have guns because you will use them irresponsibly".

 

I wish more people could see these situations from Korea's point of view. The demands are not reasonable. 

[metisdead]

Off topic posts and the replies have been removed.  This topic is not about the returning of the remains of US soldiers from North Korea. 

[Kiwiken]

Why would NK not continue to make fuel? Iraq's Saddam Hussein and Libya's Gadaffi got rid of their WMD stockpiles worked out well for them didn't it.

NK threatened with being wiped off the face of the earth why would you not seek to protect yourself. Iran threatened with military action

Both NK and Iran have been threatened with forced Regime change. I would not be suprised to see an Oil for technology exchange between these two Nations has it not already been done.

[sammieuk1]

Its not is rocket science.

[neeray]

"He said Trump remained upbeat about the prospects for North Korean denuclearisation". Sure Trump projected upbeat. He wants to make it look like HE WON. (but in reality, people with common sense know who the winner really was).

 

"Menendez, the ranking member of the committee, called Trump's meeting with Kim "a reality TV ‘summit’ that was little more than a photo-op with a brutal dictator."

Well characterized !

 

[tracy3eyes]

I don't think its about winning (maybe that's a bonus) but about ensuring that the US & the rest of the world are not getting or being mugged/conned. After all there is a very consistent history as regards to NK's integrity!

 

 

.

Tracy

TheMedSyndicate

 

[neeray]

10 minutes ago, tracy3eyes said:

I don't think its about winning (maybe that's a bonus) but about ensuring that the US & the rest of the world are not getting or being mugged/conned. After all there is a very consistent history as regards to NK's integrity!

 

 

.

Tracy

TheMedSyndicate

 

Sorry but IMHO, Trump is always about winning. Doesn't matter to him what the cost is. Doesn't care how much face he lost in the process.

[Scott]

Baiting, troll post and replies removed.  

[HAKAPALITA]

Sorry but IMHO, Trump is always about winning. Doesn't matter to him what the cost is. Doesn't care how much face he lost in the process.

What a funny human, put Japanese Pearl Harbour Mentality above the Presidents. Just Nuke the little squirt.!.?


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