Pompeo Stands by 'Difficult' Denuclearisation Talks

Tokyo/Washington: US secretary of state Mike Pompeo on Sunday brushed off North Korean charges that he used "gangster-like" diplomacy in negotiations in Pyongyang, saying, after his meeting with Japanese and South Korean counterparts, that he would keep pursuing denuclearisation talks with North Korea.

Pompeo said in Tokyo that there was still a lot of work to do, but he was confident that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would stick to a commitment to abandon nuclear weapons he made during a summit with US President Donald Trump in Singapore last month.

"When we spoke to them about denuclearization, they did not push back," Pompeo told a news conference after two days of talks in Pyongyang that ended on Saturday. "The road ahead will be difficult and challenging and we know that critics will try to minimise the work that we've achieved."

Some US senators expressed concern over North Korea's harsh words and urged the Trump administration to keep up the pressure on Pyongyang. Republican senator Joni Ernst, a member of the armed services committee, said that joint military exercises with South Korea – suspended to show goodwill toward North Korea – should be resumed "soon" if talks sputter.

Pompeo said that while he saw progress in Pyongyang, the US was not relaxing the current sanctions regime or changing its "ironclad" commitment to defend allies South Korea and Japan.

Pompeo spoke after North Korea said that the talks "brought us in a dangerous situation where we may be shaken in our unshakable will for denuclearization, rather than consolidating trust."

The statement was carried by the official KCNA news agency on Saturday soon after Pompeo left Pyongyang, raising questions about the future of the talks in which he is trying to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons program that threatens the US.

"That was a fairly serious insult directed against Pompeo,” said Christopher Hill, former US ambassador to South Korea and lead negotiator with North Korea.

Kim made a broad commitment in Singapore to "work toward denuclearization" but did not give details on how or when he would dismantle North Korea's nuclear program. Trump offered security guarantees to Pyongyang and pledged to suspend the large-scale military drills with South Korea.

Leaked US intelligence findings have concluded that North Korea does not intend to give up its nuclear program completely.

The country's latest comments were a reminder of the difficulties that previous US administrations had negotiating with the reclusive state.

“I think it was a pretty bad start to the process, but it doesn't mean it's over yet," said Hill, noting that North Korea talks were tough by nature.

“Most of the time you don't come back with anything. Most of the time you come back empty-handed," added Hill.

Military danger remains 

Pompeo said that he did not meet Kim on his latest visit to Pyongyang, as he had twice before, and that he had not anticipated doing so. However, before the trip, the White House had said that he would meet Kim.

In a speech on Sunday in Vietnam, Pompeo urged North Korea to follow the example of Vietnam, saying that he believed Pyongyang could replicate Hanoi's path to normal relations with Washington and to prosperity.

"The US has been clear on what we seek from North Korea," Pompeo said in Hanoi. "The choice now lies with North Korea and its people. If they are able to do this, they will be remembered, and chairman Kim will be remembered as a hero of the Korean people."

Some analysts and lawmakers have expressed alarm that the talks appear to have run into difficulties, although others see a possible North Korean negotiating ploy.

"I see China's hands all over this," said Republican senator Lindsey Graham, saying that he thought the Chinese were "pulling back" North Korea because of the US-China trade dispute.

Richard Haass, president of the council on foreign relations, said on Twitter there was a danger of military action because Trump might now say he had tried diplomacy but was betrayed by Kim.

"But a rushed summit and demands that NK denuclearize in short order or else is not a serious test of diplomacy," tweeted Haass.

'First steps'

South Korean foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha said that her country did not believe Washington had softened its demands, as some US officials and analysts have suggested.

"Secretary Pompeo's visit to Pyongyang this time has taken the first steps," she said. "We expect this to be followed up by further constructive and productive negotiations."

After he met Japanese minister of foreign affairs Taro Kono, Pompeo said that he was in Tokyo to discuss the US alliance with Japan and maintaining "maximum pressure" on North Korea, an expression Trump's administration had backed away from after the Singapore summit.

Pompeo said that he had pushed North Korea on a promise to destroy a missile engine test site.

He also said that talks had yielded an agreement to form a "working-level" group to oversee day-to-day interactions between the US and North Korea.

Officials from the two sides will meet next week in Panmunjom, on the border between the two Koreas, to discuss the return of the remains of roughly 7,000 US soldiers missing since the 1950-1953 Korean war.

KCNA said Pyongyang had offered to discuss declaring a formal end to the war to mark next month's anniversary of the armistice. However, it said that the US side had shown little interest, giving "certain conditions and excuses."

(Reuters)

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