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Pompeo Says U.S. Still Wants North Korea Talks Despite Launches

  • Top diplomat speaks to Bloomberg Television about negotiations
  • Pompeo suggests missile launches were a negotiating tactic
A woman holding flowers walks before the statues of late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang.
A woman holding flowers walks before the statues of late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang.

Photographer: Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images

Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said the door remains open for diplomacy with North Korea even though it launched short-range missiles early Thursday and that he hopes working-level talks between the two countries will begin in the next month or so.

Pompeo described the missile launches as more a negotiating tactic than a move that would create a rupture or lead President Donald Trump to reverse his commitment to talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.