Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States is fully committed to ridding North Korea of its nuclear arsenal as he headed to the Hermit Kingdom on Thursday to continue negotiations on a deal inked by President Trump and Kim Jong Un.
“Looking forward to continuing our work toward the final, fully verified denuclearization of #DPRK, as agreed to by Chairman Kim. Good to have the press along for the trip,” Pompeo tweeted Thursday, using the abbreviation for the country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The State Department also said the administration is not softening its stance against Kim’s regime after a number of news reports said the United States appears to have shelved an “all or nothing” approach after easing up on its rhetoric against Pyongyang following the June 12 summit in Singapore.
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a statement. “Our policy toward North Korea has not changed, we’re committed to a denuclearized North Korea.”
Trump and Kim
” at the summit but the pact didn’t contain details on how that would happen or provide
.
US intelligence reports also said that despite the agreement, Pyongyang continues to work on its nuclear capability and was hiding missiles from detection during negotiations.
National Security Adviser John Bolton on Sunday said the US has a plan for the regime to dismantle its nuclear weapons in a year and Pompeo will present the timeline to North Korean officials during his discussions.
Pompeo will spend Friday and Saturday in North Korea – his third trip to the country since April.
With Post Wires
