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US White House National Security Advisor John Bolton
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White House National Security Advisor reiterates “denuclearization within a year”
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will soon be making his fourth visit to Pyongyang, said White House National Security Advisor John Bolton, with the trip reportedly set to be made next week. Bolton, a hardliner in the Trump administration on North Korea, publicly confirmed that the visit is imminent, and attention is now focusing on whether the US and North Korea can find common ground and take corresponding measures in negotiations over the North’s denuclearization. On Aug. 19, during an interview about North Korean denuclearization on ABC’s “This Week,” Bolton stated, “I think that Secretary Pompeo will be returning to Pyongyang soon for his fourth visit. The timing will be announced at an appropriate point by the State Department.” When asked whether Pompeo would meet directly with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Bolton replied, “That’s what we expect.” During a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Aug. 16, Pompeo was asked by President Trump to provide an update on the status of negotiations with North Korea. “[We’re] continuing to make progress and hoping that we can make a big step here before too long,” he said. It is expected that Pompeo’s fourth visit to Pyongyang will take place next week. By accepting the suggestion of President Trump to send to Pompeo back to North Korea, it would appear that the chances are increasing for North Korea and the United States to exchange a report on the North’s nuclear facilities in return for a formal declaration to end the Korean War. On the other hand, if the fourth round of talks breakdown in the same way as the third round of talks last month, the stalemate between the two sides could drag on for an extended period of time. In an interview with Fox News on Aug. 5, Bolton reiterated his position that Chairman Kim had pledged “denuclearization within a year” and strongly pushed for a rapid process of denuclearization. “We are going to have to see a performance from the North Koreans, there’s no question about it,” he said. “Our priority is on North Korean denuclearization,” he added. During the ABC interview, Bolton reiterated this position, saying, “On April 27 at Panmunjeom, Kim Jong-un met with President Moon Jae-in of South Korea and at that meeting - as President Moon reported to us - he pointed out that the more rapidly North Korea denuclearizes, the sooner could come the benefits of openness to foreign aid from Japan and South Korea, foreign investment from many number of countries.” “President Moon said, ‘let’s get this done in a year,’ and Kim Jong-un said, ‘yes.’ So the one year period that we’ve talked about from the point where North Korea makes the strategic decision to denuclearize is something that the North and South Koreans have already agreed to.” By Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
