Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s trip to Asia has begun. Pompeo will be in Tokyo Saturday and Sunday and has already met with Japanese…
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s trip to Asia has begun. Pompeo will be in Tokyo Saturday and Sunday and has already met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe there.
On Sunday, Pompeo is scheduled to travel to Pyongyang for a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He will then travel to Seoul for a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Pompeo will finish his trip in Beijing, and it is still unclear which Chinese counterparts he will meet with there.
According to the Associated Press, Pompeo met with Abe Saturday and told him he wanted to have « a fully coordinated and unified view » before his meeting with Kim in Pyongyang. Pompeo also promised Abe he would bring up the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea in his meetings with North Korean officials.
Pompeo was relatively vague in his statements to pool reporters aboard his plane on Friday, but he said his upcoming meeting with the North Korean leader was about making sure « we understand what each side is truly trying to achieve » and firming up plans for a second summit between President Trump and Kim.
In a press briefing Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert emphasized that Pompeo’s meeting with Kim in Pyongyang demonstrates adherence to a promise, made at the historic face-to-face summit Trump had with Kim in June, to continue the conversation between North Korea and the U. S.
« I think it shows forward progress and momentum that the Secretary is making his fourth trip back in less than a year, » Nauert said.
Last month, President Trump told the U. N. General Assembly of the « tremendous progress » he and North Korea leader Kim had made in negotiations. Last Saturday, Trump proclaimed to the crowd at a West Virginia rally that he and Kim « fell in love » after a series of « beautiful letters » Kim wrote him.
