North Korea Reminds Trump Its Nuclear Weapons Won’t Come Cheap
- Harsh statement lays bare differences after Pompeo’s visit
- Disarmament deal may require risky U.S. security concessions
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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo went to Pyongyang to get Kim Jong Un to give up his nuclear weapons. He left with a harsh reminder that the North Korean leader expects something in return.
While President Donald Trump’s point man for nuclear talks summed up his 27 hours in the North Korean capital as “productive,” the regime called the visit “regretful.” No sooner had Pompeo left when Kim’s media published a statement saying the U.S.’s “unilateral and gangster-like demand for denuclearization” risked upending ties less than a month after Trump and Kim shook hands in Singapore.