Pompeo Dismisses North Korea Criticism of Pyongyang Negotiations
- ‘I was there, I know what took place,’ secretary of state says
- Kim ‘has not backed off his commitment’ to denuclearize
This article is for subscribers only.
U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo brushed off a harshly worded North Korean statement that cast doubt on the outlook for denuclearization talks between the two countries, insisting that Kim Jong Un hasn’t backed off a commitment to give up his nuclear weapons.
“I was there for the event, I know actually what precisely took place,” Pompeo told reporters in Tokyo Sunday, where he was meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha after two days of negotiations with a top aide to Kim in Pyongyang. “When we spoke to them about the scope of denuclearization, they did not push back.”