Pompeo says N. Korea is Committed to Denuclearization

The United States Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, has made positive statements regarding the level of commitment that North Korea has shown towards achieving denuclearization. While speaking to the press during a joint press conference in Tokyo, along with the South Korean Foreign Minister, Kang Kyung-Wha, and Japanese Foreign Minister, Taro Kono, Pompeo said that the North Korean committee that he and his team met with were committed to doing away with their nuclear missiles. This is the third meeting in a month that he has held with representatives of the countries allied with the US in the region, Japan and South Korea.

The Secretary of State also said that sanctions against North Korea would remain in place until completion of the denuclearization process pointing to the fact that promises to do so would not result in the withdrawing of these sanctions. Regarding comments made by North Korean General, Kim Yong-Chol who said that the American style of negotiating seemed “gangster-like” and that there were serious concerns about the state of the overall talks, Pompea side-stepped the issue, and attempted to move past it. Showing commitment to US allies, the Secretary of State added that denuclearization by North Korea would have to be verified as being completed before any attempts at brokering more favourable terms with this ongoing diplomatic process would be entertained.

Some concern had been raised by the North Korean General’s remarks, however, as he is considered to be an integral part of the think tank that made the Singapore Summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and US President Donald Trump possible, implying that his observations may have more weight than Pompeo wishes to admit to.