Pompeo says world is gangster as UN demanded for complete denuclearization
The failure of US President Donald Trump’s policy on North Korea was virtually surfaced on Saturday when North Korea accused Washington of pushing “unilateral and gangster-like demand for denuclearization” and called it “deeply regrettable,” hours after Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of State said his two days of talks in the North Korean capital were “productive.”
According to KCNA Watch, the Norfth Korean official media outlet, the spokesman of the foreign ministry said, “The U.S. side came up only with its unilateral and gangster-like demand for denuclearization just calling for CVID, declaration and verification, all of which run counter to the spirit of the Singapore summit meeting and talks”.
He further said, “The U.S. side never mentioned the issue of establishing a peace regime on the Korean peninsula which is essential for defusing tension and preventing a war. It took the position that it would even backtrack on the issue it had agreed on to end the status of war under certain conditions and excuses.”
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He said, “We thought that the U.S. side would come with a constructive proposal which accords with the spirit of the DPRK-U.S. summit meeting and talks. But expectation and hope of ours were so naive as to be foolish”.
The spokesman clarified, “The issues the U.S. side insisted on at the talks are all roots of troubles, which the previous administrations also had insisted on to disrupt the dialogue processes, stoke the distrust and increase the danger of war”.
Asserting North Korea position, the spokesperson said, “The U.S. is fatally mistaken if it went to the extent of regarding that the DPRK would be compelled to accept, out of its patience, the demands reflecting its gangster-like mindset”.
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Meanwhile on Sunday, Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of State, told media persons on Tokyo, “Sanctions will remain in place until final, fully verified denuclearization as agreed to by Chairman Kim (Jong Un) occurs. While we are encouraged by the progress of these talks, progress alone does not justify the relaxation of the existing sanctions regime.”
Pompoe was in Tokyo to brief his Japanese and South Korean counterparts on his talks in Pyongyang, where he brushed aside “gangster-like” characterization and said that the discussions were continuing in “good faith”.
He said “If those requests were gangster-like, the world is a gangster, because there was a unanimous decision at the UN Security Council about what needs to be achieved.”
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Pompeo also insisted that Pyongyang was committed to broad denuclearization and said that while some security guarantees could be on the table during the process, sanctions relief would not be. “Across the range of weapons and missiles, it’s a broad definition of denuclearization, and the North Koreans understand that and have not challenged that,” he said.
Pompeo held more than eight hours of talks with North Korean officials in Pyongyang from Friday. He characterized the discussions as positive, but hours after he left Pyongyang, North Korea issued the statement rejecting Washington’s “gangster-like” demand for rapid nuclear disarmament.