“I think we’re rocking. I think we’re ready. I think we’re prepared for this meeting.”
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that North Korea didn’t respond to requests from the U. S. on preparation efforts for the planned summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, a detail he said formed part of the reason Trump decided to call off the meeting.
During a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday, Pompeo explained that he didn’t believe the summit would have been successful after preparations for the meeting fell apart amid an increasingly uncooperative North Korea.
“I don’t believe in that sense that we’re in a position to believe that there could be a successful outcome,” Pompeo told senators. “I think that’s what the president communicated pretty clearly in his letter.”
“I can add to that. Over the past many days, we have endeavored to do what Chairman Kim and I had agreed, which was to put teams, preparation teams together to begin to work to prepare for the summit and we have received no response to our inquiries from them,” he explained.
Pompeo’s remarks came after Trump sent a letter to Kim announcing that the U. S. would cancel the summit planned for June 12 in Singapore. North Korea had previously taken a more aggressive stance toward the U. S., criticizing Vice President Mike Pence and threatening to cancel the meeting themselves.
“Therefore, please let this letter serve to represent that the Singapore summit, for the good of both parties, but to the detriment of the world, will not take place,” Trump wrote.
When Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N. J.) said during Thursday’s hearing that the cancelation of the summit was because of the Trump team’s failure to prepare for the meeting, Pompeo objected, saying the U. S. was ready despite the North’s refusal to respond.
“I think we’re rocking. I think we’re ready. I think we’re prepared for this meeting. I think President Trump’s prepared for this meeting. We were fully, fully engaged over the past weeks to prepare for this meeting,” Pompeo said.
Pompeo explained that he believed Kim was open to U. S. demands leading up to the summit and stressed that he hopes another opportunity at peace will arise. Until then, he said, it’s back to the maximum pressure campaign of sanctions on North Korea.
“In some ways, it’s situation normal,” he said. “The pressure campaign continues.”
Aaron Credeur is a News Fellow at IJR. He has written on a variety of national topics, including the 2016 presidential election, the state of liberal… more
