US State Department spokeswoman appeared to dismiss an interpretation of top diplomat Michael Pompeo’s promise of a brighter future for North Korea that allegedly involved US economic assistance.
“Misleading headline,” State Department’s Heather Nauert tweeted. “If DPRK denuclearizes, they could have a brighter future one day, which could include international trade, investment and visitors from around the world,” she wrote, using an abbreviation for North Korea.
Pompeo said earlier at a meeting with his South Korean counterpart that Washington was ready to help North Korea “achieve prosperity” if it gave up nuclear weapons. The Fox News channel published a report saying the North would receive US economic help.
Trump’s meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un in Singapore on June 12 will be the first summit between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader. They are expected to focus on denuclealization as a way of ending UN, US, and EU economic sanctions on the Communist state.