US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday that he will continue to lead nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea, dismissing the regime’s call for his replacement.
Pompeo’s remark comes after a North Korean official accused the top US diplomat of failing to understand Pyongyang’s position and called for his replacement with a “more careful and mature” negotiator.
“Nothing’s changed,” Pompeo said in a press conference after meeting with his Japanese counterpart and the two countries’ defence chiefs.
“We’re continuing to work to negotiate. I’m still in charge of the team. President Trump’s obviously in charge of the overall effort, but it will be my team and Special Representative (Stephen) Biegun will continue to lead the US efforts to achieve what Chairman Kim committed to do back in June of last year, which was to denuclearise,” he said.
At their first summit in Singapore in June, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump agreed to work towards complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula in exchange for security guarantees for Pyongyang.
Kim and Trump held a second summit in Vietnam in February, but failed to reach any agreement due to differences over the scope of the North’s denuclearisation and sanctions relief from the US.
Amid the deadlock, North Korea test-fired what it called a new “tactical guided weapon” this week under the supervision of its leader Kim, and also mounted an attack on Pompeo.
The secretary said he is convinced there is still a “real opportunity” to achieve the North’s denuclearisation and that his diplomatic team will remain in the lead.