US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo downplayed the possibility of another summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un before the US presidential election in November, saying that Trump would only want to engage if there were real prospects of progress.
Pompeo’s comments at a forum in Washington on Wednesday followed repeated North Korean statements saying that Pyongyang would no longer gift Trump high-profile meetings he could boast as foreign policy achievements when it is not being substantially rewarded in return.
“The North Koreans have given mixed signals, but the truth is President Trump only wants to engage in a summit if we believe there’s a sufficient likelihood that we can make real progress in achieving the outcomes that were set forth in Singapore,” Pompeo said at the event hosted by The Hill, referring to the first Trump-Kim summit in June 2018.
Photo: Reuters
“You need to have a willing partner and the North Koreans have chosen at this point in time not to engage in a way that can lead to a potential solution. We hope they’ll change their mind,” Pompeo added.
Trump and Kim have met three times since embarking on high-stakes nuclear diplomacy in 2018, beginning with their meeting in Singapore, where they issued vague vows for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula without describing when and how it would occur.
However, negotiations have faltered since their second summit in Vietnam in February last year, where the US rejected North Korean demands for major sanctions relief in exchange for a partial surrender of its nuclear capability.
Some analysts believe North Korea would avoid serious talks with the US, before attempting an eventual return to negotiations after the November election.
They say North Korea likely does not want to make any commitments or concessions when there is a chance US leadership could change, but others say another Trump-Kim meeting would not be impossible.
Trump could opt for something dramatic to improve his sliding poll numbers, while Kim could see a window of opportunity closing with a Trump presidency, and attempt a quick exchange between reversible denuclearization steps and hard-to-reverse sanctions relief.
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