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| North Korea accuses US of "gangster-like" behavior after Pompeo talks | |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| North Korea has said that high-level talks with a US delegation led by Mike Pompeo were regrettable and accused Washington of trying to unilaterally pressurise the country into abandoning its nuclear weapons. | North Korea has said that high-level talks with a US delegation led by Mike Pompeo were regrettable and accused Washington of trying to unilaterally pressurise the country into abandoning its nuclear weapons. |
| The North’s statement came on Saturday, hours after the US secretary of state wrapped up two days of talks with senior North Korean officials without meeting Kim Jong-un but with commitments for new discussions on denuclearisation and the repatriation of the remains of American soldiers killed during the Korean war. | The North’s statement came on Saturday, hours after the US secretary of state wrapped up two days of talks with senior North Korean officials without meeting Kim Jong-un but with commitments for new discussions on denuclearisation and the repatriation of the remains of American soldiers killed during the Korean war. |
| Before leaving Pyongyang, Pompeo told reporters that his conversations with senior North Korean official Kim Yong-chol had been productive, conducted in good faith and that a great deal of progress had been made in some areas. He stressed there was still more work to be done in other areas, much of which would be done by working groups that the two sides had set up to deal with specific issues. | Before leaving Pyongyang, Pompeo told reporters that his conversations with senior North Korean official Kim Yong-chol had been productive, conducted in good faith and that a great deal of progress had been made in some areas. He stressed there was still more work to be done in other areas, much of which would be done by working groups that the two sides had set up to deal with specific issues. |
| The North provided a much harsher assessment of the talks. In a statement released by an unnamed foreign ministry spokesman, Pyongyang accused the US of betraying the spirit of last month’s summit between Donald Trump and Kim by making “one-sided and gangster-like” demands on “CVID” – the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation of North Korea. | |
| It said the outcome of the follow-up talks was very concerning because it had led to a “dangerous phase that might rattle our willingness for denuclearisation that had been firm”. | It said the outcome of the follow-up talks was very concerning because it had led to a “dangerous phase that might rattle our willingness for denuclearisation that had been firm”. |
| “We had expected that the US side would offer constructive measures that would help build trust based on the spirit of the leaders’ summit ... we were also thinking about providing reciprocal measures,” said the statement, carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency. | “We had expected that the US side would offer constructive measures that would help build trust based on the spirit of the leaders’ summit ... we were also thinking about providing reciprocal measures,” said the statement, carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency. |
| “However, the attitude and stance the United States showed in the first high-level meeting [between the countries] was no doubt regrettable,” the spokesman said. “Our expectations and hopes were so naive it could be called foolish.” | “However, the attitude and stance the United States showed in the first high-level meeting [between the countries] was no doubt regrettable,” the spokesman said. “Our expectations and hopes were so naive it could be called foolish.” |
| According to the spokesman, during the talks with Pompeo, North Korea raised the issue of a possible declaration to formally end the 1950-53 Korean war, which concluded with an armistice and not a peace treaty. It also offered to discuss the closure of a missile engine test site that would “physically affirm” a move to halt the production of intercontinental range ballistic missiles and setting up working-level discussions for the return of US war remains. | According to the spokesman, during the talks with Pompeo, North Korea raised the issue of a possible declaration to formally end the 1950-53 Korean war, which concluded with an armistice and not a peace treaty. It also offered to discuss the closure of a missile engine test site that would “physically affirm” a move to halt the production of intercontinental range ballistic missiles and setting up working-level discussions for the return of US war remains. |
| However, the spokesman said the US had come up with a variety of “conditions and excuses” to delay a declaration on ending the war. The spokesman also downplayed the significance of the US suspending its military exercises with South Korea, saying the North had made a larger concession by blowing up the tunnels at its nuclear test site. | However, the spokesman said the US had come up with a variety of “conditions and excuses” to delay a declaration on ending the war. The spokesman also downplayed the significance of the US suspending its military exercises with South Korea, saying the North had made a larger concession by blowing up the tunnels at its nuclear test site. |
| In criticising the talks with Pompeo, however, North Korea carefully avoided attacking Trump, saying “we wholly maintain our trust toward President Trump,” but also that Washington must not allow “headwinds” against the “wills of the leaders”. | In criticising the talks with Pompeo, however, North Korea carefully avoided attacking Trump, saying “we wholly maintain our trust toward President Trump,” but also that Washington must not allow “headwinds” against the “wills of the leaders”. |
| Pompeo said a Pentagon team would be meeting North Korean officials on or about 12 July at the border between North and South Korea to discuss the repatriation of remains and that working-level talks would be held soon on the destruction of North Korea’s missile engine testing facility. | Pompeo said a Pentagon team would be meeting North Korean officials on or about 12 July at the border between North and South Korea to discuss the repatriation of remains and that working-level talks would be held soon on the destruction of North Korea’s missile engine testing facility. |
| In the days following his historic 12 June summit with Kim Jong-un in Singapore, Trump had announced that the return of the remains and the destruction of the missile facility had been completed or were in progress. Pompeo, however, said more talks were needed on both. | In the days following his historic 12 June summit with Kim Jong-un in Singapore, Trump had announced that the return of the remains and the destruction of the missile facility had been completed or were in progress. Pompeo, however, said more talks were needed on both. |
| “We now have a meeting set up for 12 July. It could move by one day or two where there will be discussions between the folks responsible for the repatriation of remains. [It] will take place at the border and that process will begin to develop over the days that follow,” he said as he boarded a plane for Tokyo. | “We now have a meeting set up for 12 July. It could move by one day or two where there will be discussions between the folks responsible for the repatriation of remains. [It] will take place at the border and that process will begin to develop over the days that follow,” he said as he boarded a plane for Tokyo. |
| Earlier, Pompeo and Kim Yong-chol both said they needed clarity on the parameters of an agreement to denuclearise the Korean peninsula that Trump and the North Korean leader had agreed to in Singapore. The trip was Pompeo’s third to Pyongyang since April and his first since the summit. | Earlier, Pompeo and Kim Yong-chol both said they needed clarity on the parameters of an agreement to denuclearise the Korean peninsula that Trump and the North Korean leader had agreed to in Singapore. The trip was Pompeo’s third to Pyongyang since April and his first since the summit. |
| Unlike his previous visits, which have been one-day affairs during which he has met Kim Jong-un, Pompeo spent the night at a government guesthouse in Pyongyang and did not see the North Korean leader, although US officials had suggested such a meeting was expected. State department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said no meeting with Kim had been planned. | Unlike his previous visits, which have been one-day affairs during which he has met Kim Jong-un, Pompeo spent the night at a government guesthouse in Pyongyang and did not see the North Korean leader, although US officials had suggested such a meeting was expected. State department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said no meeting with Kim had been planned. |
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