North Korea Pulled Out of Olympic Meeting With Pence, U.S. Says
- Vice president had agreed to meet Kim’s envoys in South Korea
- Would’ve been the highest direct contact in more than decade
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U.S. Vice President Mike Pence was willing to meet with Kim Jong Un’s envoys earlier this month during the Winter Olympics in South Korea, but the North Koreans backed out, the Trump administration said.
“North Korea dangled a meeting in hopes of the vice president softening his message, which would have ceded the world stage for their propaganda during the Olympics,’’ Pence’s chief of staff, Nick Ayers, said Tuesday in a statement. “This administration will stand in the way of Kim’s desire to whitewash their murderous regime with nice photo ops at the Olympics. Perhaps that’s why they walked away from a meeting, or perhaps they were never sincere about sitting down.’’