US Secretary of State affirms “progress” after visit to North Korea
(Baonghean.vn) - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on July 7 that there has been progress on the issue of North Korea's denuclearization after meeting with a senior North Korean official in Pyongyang.
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| US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (left) shakes hands with Kim Jong-chol, a senior North Korean official, at the Baekhwawon Guest House in Pyongyang on July 7. Photo: Yonhap |
Pompeo arrived in Tokyo, Japan after completing a two-day visit to North Korea for denuclearization talks. Before flying to Japan, Pompeo told reporters that he had “very productive” conversations and spent “a lot of time” discussing a roadmap for North Korea’s denuclearization.
“There are many complex issues, but we have made progress on most of the core issues,” said a source from journalists traveling with the US Secretary of State. “In some areas, there is a lot of progress; in others, there is still more work to do.”
Pompeo also said that US officials will meet with North Korean officials around July 12 at the inter-Korean border to discuss the repatriation of the remains of US soldiers killed in the 1950-1953 Korean War.
According to US media, Mr. Pompeo added that working-level talks will be held in the near future on dismantling North Korea's missile engine testing facility.
Pompeo met with Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, on his second day in the capital, where both sides clearly felt they needed to “clarify” many issues. The two sides spent six hours talking, from 9am to 3pm.
Pompeo left Pyongyang for Tokyo to briefly brief his South Korean and Japanese counterparts — Kang Kyung-wha and Taro Kono — on the results of their meetings in North Korea.
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| Message posted on Twitter by the US Secretary of State on July 6. Photo: Twitter |
Pompeo did not meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during his trip, but he did deliver a letter from President Donald Trump to Kim, according to State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert.
Several reporters accompanied Pompeo on his third visit to Pyongyang to clarify the June 12 agreement between Trump and Kim Jong-un, under which Trump agreed to “complete” denuclearization of North Korea in exchange for security guarantees. These reporters said Kim Yong-chol told the US secretary of state: “We had a very serious discussion yesterday about very important issues. So thinking about those discussions, you must not have slept very well last night.” Pompeo replied that he “slept well.”
The North Korean official also said: “There are many issues I want to clarify,” and Pompeo replied: “I also have to clarify many things.” It is still unclear exactly what they wanted to mention.
The US Secretary of State reiterated to the North Korean official - considered Kim Jong-un's "right-hand man" - President Trump's talk of a "brighter future for North Korea" in the event of complete denuclearization.
Earlier in the day, spokesman Nauert told reporters that the two sides had set up working groups to discuss details of the denuclearization plan.
Pompeo led a multi-agency team of officials on the visit from July 6, which included the US State Department's renowned North Korea expert Sung Kim.