Pompeo says he hopes for 3rd North Korea-US summit within a few months

WASHINGTON D.C., Apr 4, 2019, Hankyoreh. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated that while he hopes a third North Korea-US summit will be held within a few months, there’s no set timetable for such a meeting. This reaffirmed the US’ basic position that it remains open to dialogue but is waiting for North Korea to take action on denuclearization, reported the Hankyoreh.

Pompeo made the remarks in a interview with WHP 580, a radio station in Pennsylvania, that took place on Mar. 29. When asked if Pompeo had a timeframe in mind for North Korea’s denuclearization, Pompeo said, “I try to be careful when it comes to making predictions about timing.”

“The North Korean people are not doing great under the sanctions regime there. That, of course, speeds the timeline along and, of course, it’s in America’s best interest to resolve this as quickly as we can.”

“I would hope in the coming months our two leaders will be back together [. . .] in a way that we can achieve a substantive first step or a substantive big step along the path to denuclearization,” Pompeo went on to say.

“Then the final, fully denuclearized North Korean peninsula can be realized, at which time, as President Trump said, there’ll be a brighter future for the North Korean people. It’s just hard to know what the timing will be.”

Pompeo also agreed with the radio host’s comment that there’s “great reason to be optimistic” about the North Korean question. “President Trump has made clear that there’s no timeline, that this will be one step forward, one step back, perhaps,” Pompeo said.

Pompeo also called on Kim once again to take action. “Chairman Kim has made a promise to [. . .] me, he’s made it to President Trump – that he will denuclearize. Now our task is to figure out [. . .] how to achieve that outcome, which will truly reduce the risk for people all across the world.”

By Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent