Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pushed back Sunday after North Korea criticized the U.S. attitude in the latest round of talks.
The North Koreans lashed out at the U.S. Saturday as Pompeo left the country following nuclear negotiations that appear to have failed to produce the desired results, but the U.S. position remains unchanged.
Following two days of discussions in Pyongyang, the secretary of state departed for Tokyo, Japan, telling reporters that “a great deal of progress” was made during the meetings, but “there’s more work to be done.” North Korea’s foreign ministry had a slightly different interpretation of the negotiations in the North Korean capital city. (RELATED: Pompeo Insists Talks With North Korea ‘Productive,’ But ‘There’s Still More Work To Be Done’)
“The U.S. side came only with its unilateral and gangster-like demand for denuclearization just calling for CVID, declaration and verification, all of which run counter to the spirit of the Singapore summit meeting and talks,” a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency. (RELATED: North Korean Foreign Ministry Says Talks With Pompeo ‘Regrettable’)
North Korea asserted that the U.S. failed to address their demands, such as bringing an end to the Korean War and establishing a permanent peace mechanism for the peninsula. “The issues the U.S. side insisted on at the talks are all roots of troubles, which the previous administrations also had insisted on to disrupt the dialogue processes, stoke the distrust and increase the risk of war,” the foreign ministry said.
“The first DPRK-U.S. high-level talks [since the Singapore summit] 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.,” the statement said, suggesting that North Korea may turn away from the path to denuclearization if the U.S. does not change its attitude.
This is not the first time the U.S. has encountered resistance during talks. The North lashed out several weeks before the summit in Singapore over U.S. demands for unilateral disarmament, prompting President Donald Trump to temporarily cancel the summit.
Rather than change course after North Korea’s rebuke, Pompeo doubled down, reaffirming his position. (RELATED: Trump Cancels US-North Korea Summit)
“If those requests were gangster-like, the world is a gangster, because there was a unanimous decision at the U.N. Security Council about what needs to be achieved,” the secretary said, insisting that the U.S. and North Korea “made progress.”
We had “good faith, productive conversations which will continue in the weeks ahead,” he added, while noting that “sanctions will remain in place until final, fully verified denuclearisation as agreed to by Chairman Kim (Jong Un) occurs.” At the Singapore summit, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un only committed to “work toward” the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
While in Japan, a tweet was sent from the secretary of state’s account emphasizing the need to maintain “maximum pressure” on North Korea. The president had previously said he was no longer interested in using that expression, as talks with North Korea were going well.
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