More than three months after Secretary of State Michael Pompeo picked Stephen Biegun to lead negotiations with North Korea, the former Ford Motor Co. execu
WASHINGTON – More than three months after Secretary of State Michael Pompeo picked Stephen Biegun to lead negotiations with North Korea, the former Ford Motor Co. executive has barely met officials from Pyongyang face-to-face.
The standstill is a sign of how negotiations between the U. S. and North Korea have faltered, forcing a lowering of expectations, since President Donald Trump met with Kim Jong Un in Singapore in June. Biegun was appointed in August to help follow up on the opening created by the summit, but North Korean officials have ignored Pompeo’s invitation in September to meet with Biegun “at the earliest opportunity.”
Kim’s regime may feel emboldened to spurn the usual channels of diplomacy because Trump has emphasized his personal rapport with the autocratic leader and his interest in holding a second summit soon, according to current and former administration officials.
“The North Koreans are digging in — they just want to deal with Trump,” said Sue Mi Terry, a former CIA analyst who’s now at the Center for International and Strategic Studies in Washington. “Are we closer to some sort of agreement? I don’t think so — people that I talk to say that we’re just genuinely stuck.”
Publicly, Pompeo has remained optimistic and positive about the pace toward eventual success in North Korea. Progress “has been good” and substantive talks continue, he told CNN during the Group of 20 summit in Argentina earlier this month.
Privately, however, the secretary is more downbeat. Two people familiar with his thinking, who asked not to be identified discussing internal deliberations, said Pompeo is growing exasperated that there’s been no progress on the points spelled out at the Singapore summit.
