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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shakes hands with North Korean vice chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) and head of the United Front Department Kim Yong-chol during their second meeting in New York on May 31. (Pompeo’s Twitter)
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Kim Yong-chol to deliver letter from Kim Jong-un to Trump in Washington
After high-level talks in New York on May 31 with Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of the North Korean Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) and head of the United Front Department, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that “we’ve made real progress in the last 72 hours” while noting that “this is a difficult, difficult challenge” and that “there remains a great deal of work to do.” Pompeo made the remarks during a press conference at the Lotte Palace Hotel in Manhattan, New York, on May 30. “I believe [North Korea is] contemplating a path forward where they can make a strategic shift,” Pompeo said. “I am confident we are moving in the right direction.” But Pompeo devoted a considerable amount of time during the press conference to urging the North to make a bold decision. This suggests that, despite the high-level meeting, the two sides were unable to reach a meaningful compromise on their fundamental disagreements about North Korea’s denuclearization and what it would receive in return. “Our two countries face a pivotal moment in our relationship in which it could be nothing short of tragic to let this opportunity go to waste,” Pompeo stressed. “It will take bold leadership from Chairman Kim Jong-un” for North Korea and the US to reach an agreement. “Chairman Kim is the kind of leader who can make those kinds of decisions, and [. . . ] in the coming weeks and months we will have the opportunity to test whether or not this is the case,” Pompeo said. When asked whether a final decision about holding the summit would be made around June 1, Pompeo said he was not sure, but explained that Kim Yong-chol would be visiting Washington on June 1 to deliver a letter from Kim Jong-un. “Substantive talks with the team from #NorthKorea. We discussed our priorities for the potential summit between our leaders,” Pompeo wrote on Twitter shortly after the meeting. By Yi Yong-in, reporting from New York Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
