U.S. to engage with North Korea if Pyongyang stands ready to commit to denuclearize
  • 6 years ago
It's a rocky patch between the U.S. and North Korea,.... and the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shared his view on the recent cancellation of his trip to the North.
And it seems like Pyongyang will have to put in more efforts to get Washington on board for further negotiations.
Lee Ji-won starts us off.
The U.S. stands ready to engage when it is clear that North Korea is prepared to deliver on the commitments it made at the June 12th Singapore summit to completely denuclearize.

This is U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's take on the current situation, following the cancellation of his fourth trip to Pyongyang. It was shared by the department's spokesperson Heather Nauert at a briefing on Tuesday.

Pompeo's statement went on to say that the world is united behind the need for North Korea to fulfill that commitment and that members of the UN Security Council have voted to call upon North Korea to abandon all nuclear weapons.
He said the final, fully verified denuclearization of Pyongyang is the world's goal and the world is looking forward to North Korea's compliance with the resolutions for a brighter future for its people.

This comes after a Washington Post report claimed that Trump canceled Pompeo's trip due to a belligerent letter from a senior North Korean official, which convinced the President that the planned visit would not be successful.

And on Tuesday, CNN reported that the letter stated Pyongyang felt talks couldn't move forward because "the U.S. is still not ready to meet North Korea's expectations in terms of taking a step forward to sign a peace treaty."
Pyongyang has been urging Washington to declare the end of the Korean War.
CNN cited three sources with direct knowledge on the issue who said that if a compromise cannot be reached, Pyongyang could resume "nuclear and missile activities",... hinting of the possibility that denuclearization talks are "at stake and may fall apart".

Meanwhile, U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley said it's a possibility that North Korea may be changing its mind on denuclearization at a conference on Tuesday.
But she made the remarks to stress that regardless, the U.S. will not change its mind on sanctions and how it looks at the North's nuclear threats.
She warned there's always more it can do in terms of sanctions, but Washington will continue to try and do that along with its diplomatic efforts.
Lee Ji-won, Arirang News.
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