The Secretary of State told NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell on Friday that he hoped Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un would meet again “before too long.”
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday that the meetings between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un represented “important steps” in the effort to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.
The two leaders discussed denuclearization “in a material way” for the first time, Pompeo told NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell in an interview.
Though the talks resulted in a new agreement between the two countries, the secretary of state described the progress from those talks as incremental.
“There’s much more work that remains to be done,” Pompeo said describing the progress from the talks as incremental. “We have the patience and determination, and we believe the world does, too, to achieve this goal.”
Following the meetings between the South and North Korean leaders, Kim said he would dismantle the Yongbyon nuclear facilities if the United States and South Korea were to take corresponding measures. Kim was not specific in his request.
Both Koreas have been pushing for the U. S to sign a declaration officially ending the Korean War. But Washington wants to see meaningful steps by Pyongyang towards denuclearization before further U. S. action.
So far, North Korea has not met U. S. demands to put forward a declared list of their nuclear sites or stockpiles of weapons. They have not agreed to a timetable for dismantling those sites and weapons. And there has been no plan established for inspectors to verify the dismantling is irreversible.
