US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called 'very productive' a meeting with Foreign Minister of North Korea Ri Yong-ho in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. In October, Pompeo is going to Pyongyang to prepare the second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
As The Global and Mail writes in the article Trump says he has no time frame for North Korea to denuclearize, Pompeo's visit to Pyongyang next month will be his fourth this year. Referring to North Korea by the acronym of its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the State Department said the aim of the meeting would be “further progress on the implementation of the commitments from the U.S.-DPRK Singapore summit, including the final, fully verified denuclearization of the DPRK, and to prepare for a second summit ...”
Trump held an unprecedented first summit with Kim in Singapore on June 12 that yielded a broad pledge by Kim to “work toward” denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Kim’s commitments and actions, however, have fallen short of Washington’s demands for a complete inventory of North Korea’s weapons programs and irreversible steps to give up a nuclear arsenal that potentially threatens the United States.
Pompeo told “CBS This Morning” earlier that U.S. officials were working “to make sure we get the conditions right” for a second summit. He said any future summit could happen in October, but more likely after that.
In his address to the General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump praised Kim for his courage in taking steps to disarm, but said much work still had to be done and sanctions must remain in place on North Korea until it denuclearizes. On Wednesday, Trump told the UN Security Council that many positive things were happening behind the scenes on North Korea, “away from the media.”
Asked by CBS if Kim had agreed to allow international inspectors into nuclear sites, Pompeo said, “Yes,” while adding that verification was important in any nuclear agreement.
