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US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shake hands during a White House Cabinet meeting on June 21. (AFP/Yonhap News)
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US President emphasizes NK’s commitment to summit agreement at White House Cabinet meeting
Remarking on the outcome of his recent summit in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, US President Donald Trump said June 21 that “the big thing is, it will be a total denuclearization, which is already starting taking place.” “They [the North Koreans] want to get it [denuclearization] done. We want to get it done. And we’re moving quickly,” he also said. In opening remarks before a Cabinet meeting at the White House that day, Trump noted that North Korea was “destroying their engine site” and had “already blown up one of their big test sites.” “In fact, it was actually four of their big test sites,” he continued. The “engine site” mentioned by Trump appears to have a reference to a missile launch site in Tongchang Village in Cholsan County, North Pyongan Province. US news outlets previously reported that the Tongchang-ri site was the engine test site Kim promised to dismantle during the North Korea-US summit. But it remains unclear whether “dismantlement” has actually been carried out. The “four of their big test sites” referred to by Trump appeared to mean the tunnels of the Punggye Village nuclear test site dismantled last month. Discussing his joint statement with Kim, Trump said, “Number one statement, we will immediately begin total denuclearization of North Korea.” “Nobody thought that would be possible,” he added. The joint statement includes a reference to “complete denuclearization” rather than the “total denuclearization” mentioned by Trump. “Total” is reported to be a word agreed upon in working-level talks; no explanation was given on whether there was any clear difference from “complete.” Trump also expressed his thanks to Chinese President Xi Jinping “because the [China-North Korea] border was very strong during a very critical period.” “Unfortunately, the border is getting a little bit weaker now,” he continued. “We have to get him to keep it tough.” With his remarks, Trump expressed wariness over signs of China increasing economic exchange with North Korea or loosening its independent sanctions against the North. He also ratcheted up his criticisms of the US press for dismissing the results of the North Korea-US summit. In a previously aired interview with TBN, Trump said it was “a shame the fake news covers [the summit] the way they do.” “It’s almost treasonous, [if] you want to know the truth,” he continued. Addressing the topic of follow-up talks with North Korea in a briefing the same day, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo planned to meet with North Korean officials “at the earliest possible date.” “We don't have any meetings or travel [to North Korea] to announce at this time,” she added. By Yi Yong-in, Washington correspondent Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
