Mike Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State said Saturday that he would be working with South Korea and Japan as he negotiates with North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons. He will be visiting North Korea on Sunday.
Deadlocked Negotiations with North Korea
Pompeo is on his way to North Korea. It has been nearly four months since President Donald Trump met with North Korean President Kim Jong Un. At their summit in Singapore, Un agreed to rid North Korea of all nuclear weapons and testing. The country has made little progress in that direction, however. In fact, Trump canceled Pompeo’s last planned trip to North Korea, seeing it as a waste of time.
The hang-up is a disagreement on which country will meet the other’s demands first. North Korea wants the U.S. to lift sanctions against the country. The U.S. insists that it won’t do that until North Korea’s denuclearization is complete.
Pompeo said his goal this trip is to “make sure that we understand what each side is truly trying to achieve … and how we can deliver against the commitments that were made” at Trump and Un’s first meeting.
