North Korea accused the United States on Saturday of making \u00ab\u00a0gangster-like\u00a0\u00bb demands in talks over its nuclear program, contradicting U. S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hours after he left saying the old enemies had made progress on key issues.<\/b>
\nSEOUL\/TOKYO (Reuters) – North Korea accused the United States on Saturday of making \u201cgangster-like\u201d demands in talks over its nuclear program, contradicting U. S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hours after he left saying the old enemies had made progress on key issues.
During a day and a half of talks in Pyongyang, Pompeo had sought to hammer out details on how to dismantle North Korea\u2019s nuclear programs, including a timeline.
As he departed, he said he had made progress on \u201calmost all of the central issues,\u201d although work remained to be done.
Hours later, Pyongyang gave a much more negative assessment, saying Washington had broken the spirit of last month\u2019s summit between U. S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
\u201cThe U. S. side came up only with its unilateral and gangster-like demand for denuclearization,\u201d a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.
He said Pompeo\u2019s delegation insisted on unilateral complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization, known as CVID. He argued instead for both sides to take a series of simultaneous steps as a \u201cshortcut\u201d to a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.
\u201cThe high-level talks this time brought us in a dangerous situation where we may be shaken in our unshakable will for denuclearization, rather than consolidating trust between the DPRK and the U. S.\u201d
There was no immediate comment on the KCNA statement from the State Department or the White House. The contrasting comments raised questions over whether North Korea is committed to abandoning the nuclear programs it has developed for decades and has seen as key to its survival. \u2018LIKE A ROBBER\u2019
Trump and Kim pledged at their June 12 summit meeting in Singapore to move toward denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Trump has declared on Twitter that North Korea no longer poses a nuclear threat.
But Kim has yet to provide details of how or when North Korea might dismantle a weapons program that Trump has vowed will not be allowed to threaten the United States. Also, leaked U. S. intelligence findings concluded North Korea does not intend to completely give up its nuclear program.
On Saturday, Pompeo said he spent \u201ca good deal of time\u201d in the latest talks discussing a denuclearization timeline and the declaration of the North\u2019s nuclear and missile facilities.
\u201cThese are complicated issues but we made progress on almost all of the central issues. Some places a great deal of progress, other places there\u2019s still more work to be done,\u201d he said, according to a pool report from U. S. reporters who accompanied him to Pyongyang.
Some U. S. experts on North Korea said the ongoing disputes show the risk of Washington granting premature concessions to Pyongyang. Many were surprised when Trump agreed at the summit in Singapore to end joint military exercises with South Korea.
\u201cThe North Koreans are in the game to get, not to give,\u201d said Daniel Russel, the top U. S. diplomat for East Asia until last year.
\u201cThey have gotten the U. S. to back off military exercises, back off using \u2018CVID\u2019, back off the \u2018Libya model\u2019 of rapid denuclearization, back off on human rights, and to look the other way while China relaxes sanctions implementation. So why wouldn\u2019t Kim Jong Un dig in his heels with Pompeo and press his advantage?\u201d
Abraham Denmark, a senior defense official for East Asia under former President Barack Obama, said: \u201cThis is a rejection of U. S. demands for unilateral denuclearization by North Korea, and a clear message that the U. S. will need to give up more to make progress.\u201d
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Pompeo had been \u201cvery firm\u201d on three basic goals: complete denuclearization of North Korea, security assurances and repatriation of remains of Americans killed in the 1950-53 Korean War.
Pompeo said the two sides agreed to hold discussions on July 12 on repatriation, and also discussed \u201cmodalities\u201d for destruction of a missile engine testing facility.
KCNA said the North also offered to discuss declaring a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War marking next month\u2019s anniversary of the armistice agreement, but the U. S. side showed little interest, giving \u201ccertain conditions and excuses.\u201d
Nauert said the July 12 meeting, along the border between North and South Korea, would be at working level and involve U. S. Defense Department officials.
Pompeo did not meet Kim as he had done on two previous visits to North Korea this year, but handed over a letter to him from Trump.
A letter from Kim to Trump was also delivered to Pompeo through Kim Yong Chol, a top North Korean party official and former spy agency chief, who was Pompeo\u2019s interlocutor and played a key role in arranging the Singapore summit.
In the letter, Kim Jong Un expressed his \u201cexpectation and conviction\u201d that future dialogue would further consolidate the sentiments of good faith between the two leaders, KCNA said.
\u201cWe still cherish our good faith in President Trump,\u201d the spokesman said. \u2018EQUALLY COMMITTED\u2019
Asked about reports based on U. S. intelligence assessments that North Korea had continued to develop its nuclear facilities even while engaging in dialogue, Pompeo said:
\u201cWe talked about what the North Koreans are continuing to do and how it\u2019s the case that we can get our arms around achieving what Chairman Kim and President Trump both agreed to, which is the complete denuclearization of North Korea.
\u201cChairman Kim is… still committed\u201d to that goal, Pompeo said, and he reiterated that Trump was \u201ccommitted to a brighter future for North Korea\u201d.
The U. S.-North Korea talks are being closely watched across Asia. Pompeo is due to meet in Tokyo on Sunday with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.<\/p>\n

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