U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo plays down North Korea sparring

[webfact]

U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo plays down North Korea sparring

By David Brunnstrom

 

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a news conference at the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Singapore August 4, 2018. REUTERS/Edgar Su

 

ABOARD U.S. GOVERNMENT AIRCRAFT (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday played down an exchange of contentious remarks with North Korea on the sidelines of weekend regional meetings in Singapore, saying Pyongyang had made clear its continued commitment to denuclearize.

 

Both Pompeo and North Korean Foreign Minster Ri Yong Ho were in Singapore, less than two months after an unprecedented summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that Trump has hailed as a success despite a lack of concrete action by Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

 

Pompeo and Ri's interaction nevertheless appeared limited to a brief handshake at the ASEAN Regional Forum. When Pompeo left the meeting on Saturday, Ri delivered an address in which he said Pyongyang was alarmed by U.S. intentions. He also complained about U.S. calls to maintain sanctions on North Korea and reluctance to declare a formal end to the Korean War.

 

Pompeo was asked in a briefing to reporters travelling back with him to Washington whether he was concerned by Ri's remarks. He noted the tone of the North Korean statement was far different that it was last year.

 

"The minister made very clear of their continued commitment to denuclearize," Pompeo said. "I probably don't have his words exactly right, but it's pretty close. Compare the anger, frankly, over years and years, and hatred, as spewed by the North Koreans; his comments were different."

 

Pompeo stressed the U.S. "mission statement" remained clear.

 

"The U.N. Security Council has said they must end their nuclear programme and their ballistic missile program. He has to deliver on the commitments he's made," he said, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

 

At the June 12 summit, Kim committed in broad terms to work toward denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula but North Korea has offered no details on how it might go about this. U.S. officials, including Pompeo, have said North Korea has continued to work on its weapons programs.

 

Ri said North Korea was committed to implementing a joint statement by Kim and Trump at their summit "in a responsible and good-faith manner." But he reiterated a call for a phased approach to talks, which differs from the U.S. insistence that North Korea give up its weapons before relief from sanctions.

 

Asked whether North Korea could be offered concessions other than sanctions relief, Pompeo replied: "I am not going to comment on the sanctions and what others may have proffered."

 

Asked why he had apparently not held a formal meeting with Ri in Singapore, Pompeo, who has been leading U.S. negotiating efforts with Pyongyang, replied: "Your question has a predicate and I'm just going to say, there are lots of conversations taking place."

 

According to the State Department, in their brief exchange on Saturday Pompeo told Ri: "We should talk again soon," to which Ri responded: "I agree, there are many productive conversations to be had."

 

Ri's later comments were not the first since the summit in which that North Korea has appeared to offer a more negative impression of the progress of talks with the United States shortly after Pompeo has departed from a meeting.

 

Following a trip to Pyongyang in July, Pompeo spoke of progress, but as soon as he had left the country North Korea accused the United States of "gangster-like" diplomacy, casting doubts about the future of the discussions.

 

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Matt Spetalnick and Bill Trott)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-08-06

[mtls2005]

I'm tired of all this winning.

 

tRUmp continues to talk up his "success" with Kim in Singapore at his rallies.

 

 

[spidermike007]

There may have been a verbal commitment to denuclearize as Pompeo is so fond of saying, however it has never been put into the context of a formal understanding or treaty, and all Trump came away from that meeting with Kim with, was a box of chocolates and a couple of pats on the back. Trump cannot negotiate his way out of a paper bag.

[Srikcir]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo plays down North Korea sparring

TRANSLATION:

U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo plays down North Korea failure.

The danger becomes one that Trump may feel cheated out of any imminent military action against North Korea and he'll try to find another target nation to threaten with military attacks. Back to Iran or Venezuela maybe.

[DM07]

Is that, what they call a circle- jerk?

[ncc1701d]

5 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

There may have been a verbal commitment to denuclearize as Pompeo is so fond of saying, however it has never been put into the context of a formal understanding or treaty, and all Trump came away from that meeting with Kim with, was a box of chocolates and a couple of pats on the back. Trump cannot negotiate his way out of a paper bag.

Even if there was something formal, Kim wouldn’t give a shit anyway.

[Tug]

Kinda feel sorry for people who have to clean up after the trump fiasco mission impossible