Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets for nearly three hours with Kim Jong-un’s point man; more talks expected Saturday
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met for nearly three hours on Friday with a top North Korean official in Pyongyang to nail down the specifics of commitments on denuclearisation made when US President Donald Trump met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un last month.
Pompeo has the crucial task of dispelling growing scepticism over how serious Kim is about giving up his nuclear arsenal and translating the upbeat rhetoric following the June 12 summit into concrete action.
It is Pompeo’s third trip to the North Korean capital in as many months, and his first since the summit meeting. At the start of his meeting with Kim Yong-chol, a senior ruling party official and close aide to North Korea’s leader, Pompeo quipped about his frequent visits.
“I was joking that if I come one more time, I will have to pay taxes here,” the top US diplomat said.
Kim, who has been something of a point man on Washington negotiations for Kim Jong-un, said: “The more you come, the more trust we can build between one another.”
The talks, which lasted 2 hours and 45 minutes, were held at a state guest house complex located a short drive from the gargantuan mausoleum where North Korea’s founding leader Kim Il-sung and his successor Kim Jong-il lie in state.
Pompeo was expected to hold further meetings on Saturday. It was not clear whether any progress was made in Friday’s discussions and whether Pompeo would be meeting directly with Kim Jong-un, as he had done on his previous visits.
On the flight to Pyongyang, Pompeo said that both sides had made commitments at the Singapore summit on the complete denuclearisation of North Korea and on what a transformed relationship between their two countries might look like.
