U. S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he had a „very positive“ meeting with North Korea’s foreign minister on Wednesday.
UNITED NATIONS — U. S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he had a „very positive“ meeting with North Korea’s foreign minister on Wednesday and will visit Pyongyang again next month to prepare for a second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Pompeo wrote on Twitter that his meeting with Ri Yong Ho on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York was to discuss the summit and „next steps toward denuclearization of #NorthKorea.“
„Much work remains, but we will continue to move forward,“ Pompeo said.
The State Department said Pompeo accepted an invitation from Kim to visit Pyongyang next month, for what will be his fourth visit this year.
Referring to North Korea by the acronym of its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, it said the aim would be „further progress on the implementation of the commitments from the U. S.-DPRK Singapore summit, including the final, fully verified denuclearization of the DPRK, and to prepare for a second summit…“
Trump held an unprecedented first summit with Kim in Singapore on June 12 that yielded a broad pledge by Kim to „work toward“ denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
Kim’s commitments and actions, however, have fallen short of Washington’s demands for a complete inventory of North Korea’s weapons programs and irreversible steps to give up a nuclear arsenal that potentially threatens the United States.
Trump said on Wednesday the United States and North Korea had „a wonderful relationship going“ and he would announce the timing and location of his next meeting with Kim in the „very near future.“
Pompeo told „CBS This Morning“ earlier that U. S. officials were working „to make sure we get the conditions right“ for a second summit. He said any future summit could happen in October, but more likely after that.
