US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Twitter/White House WASHINGTON (Reuters) – North Korea faces « a…
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Twitter/White House
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – North Korea faces « a future brimming with peace and prosperity » if it gives up its nuclear weapons soon, U. S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday as the two countries prepare for a historic summit between U. S. President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un.
« If North Korea takes bold action to quickly denuclearize, the United States is prepared to work with North Korea to achieve prosperity on the par with our South Korean friends, » Pompeo told a news conference after talks with his South Korean counterpart in Washington.
« If Chairman Kim chooses the right path, there is a future brimming with peace and prosperity for the North Korean people, » he said.
Pompeo, who returned from Pyongyang this week with three American prisoners who had been held by North Korea, said the release of men had helped set conditions for a successful meeting between Trump and Kim in Singapore on June 12.
Pompeo said he had « good, substantive » conversations with Kim in Pyongyang and believed both sides understood the ultimate goal of the summit.
Pompeo said the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula would however require « robust verification » program by the United States and other countries.
« It’s a big undertaking for sure, but one that Chairman Kim and I had the opportunity to have a good, sound discussion on, so that I think we had a pretty good understanding between our two countries what the shared objectives are, » Pompeo said.
South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha stressed that sanctions against Pyongyang would not be lifted until it had taken concrete steps to denuclearize.
« We very much hope to see further steps, more concrete steps toward denuclearization at the U. S.-North Korea summit, so we’re not talking about sanctions relief at this point, » she said.
Reporting by Lesley Wroughton and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Alistair Bell.
