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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during his interview with Fox News on Jan. 30. (Fox News screenshot)
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Confirms summit will be held at end of month
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed on Jan. 30 that the second US-North Korea summit meeting will be held in late February, and that a team has been sent to Asia to make preparations. He put a halt to domestic skepticism, stressing that the meeting would go ahead as planned. When asked about the second US-North Korea summit and the current state of denuclearization talks in an interview with Fox News, Pompeo replied, “I think we’ll have a summit at the end of the month, that’s the plan. That’s what the North Koreans have now agreed to. That’s what we’ve agreed to with them as well.” This represents confirmation of the plan announced by the White House after a meeting on Jan. 18 between President Donald Trump and Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea. “We’ll do it someplace in Asia,” Pompeo continued. “So I think that looks good. I am dispatching a team. They’re headed that way now to lay the foundations for what I hope will be a substantial additional step towards the path for not only denuclearization of the peninsula, but a brighter future for the North Korean people and security on the peninsula in a way that no previous administration’s been able to achieve.” This has been understood as meaning that the specific location for the meeting has been narrowed down, and work has already begun on the agenda for the summit as well as a plan for how it will be carried out. It appears that the date and venue for the meeting will be officially announced shortly. Da Nang or Hanoi in Vietnam are strong candidates for hosting the meeting, while Bangkok has also been mentioned. “I think it took President Trump to convince Chairman Kim that – all the commitments that he made this past June in Singapore,” Pompeo continued. “Now it’s time for my team and all of the United States Government to work with the North Koreans to execute that and to deliver on our commitment to denuclearize that peninsula. Chairman Kim has told us he’s prepared to do it, and now the mission is to deliver on that.” Pompeo’s remarks came amidst heightened domestic skepticism about negotiations between the US and North Korea. The previous day, intelligence chiefs including Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told the Senate Intelligence Committee that North Korea is "unlikely to completely give up its nuclear weapons." In a report on Jan. 30, CNN also quoted a source who said that little progress had been made on denuclearization during Kim Yong Chol’s meeting with Trump and high-level meeting with Pompeo. Trump takes a jab at US intelligence community Trump refuted the conclusion reached by the intelligence chiefs through a tweet the same morning. “North Korea relationship is best it has ever been with US,” he wrote. “No (nuclear or missile) testing, getting remains, hostages returned. Decent chance of denuclearization. [. . .]” He went on to say, “Time will tell what will happen with North Korea, but at the end of the previous administration, relationship was horrendous and very bad things were about to happen. Now a whole different story.” The president ended his tweet by stating “I look forward to seeing Kim Jong Un shortly. Progress being made -- big difference!” In response to the claim by intelligence chiefs that Iran is “Not currently undertaking the key activities we judge necessary to produce a nuclear device,” Trump replied, “The Intelligence people seem to be extremely passive and naive when it comes to the dangers of Iran. They are wrong! They are testing Rockets [. . .] and more, and are coming very close to the edge.” Be careful of Iran.” The president ended his tweet with a jab at his colleagues, writing, “Perhaps Intelligence should go back to school!” By Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
