Pompeo: North Korea has ‘a ways to go’ to denuclearize

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday that North Korea still has more work to do before fulfilling its promise to denuclearize, according to The Associated Press.

Pompeo told reporters that there is “still a ways to go before” the country fully denuclearizes, noting that North Korea is still in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

“Chairman Kim made a commitment to denuclearize,” Pompeo said. “The world demanded that [he] do so in the U.N. Security Council resolutions. To the extent they are behaving in a manner inconsistent with that, they are in violation of one or both of the U.N. Security Council resolutions. We can see we still have a ways to go to achieve the ultimate outcome we’re looking for.”

{mosads}

The secretary of State is in Singapore for the Association of South East Asian Nations annual regional forum. A senior State Department official told reporters that a private meeting between Pompeo and the North Korean foreign minister at the meeting was possible, but he would not confirm it.

The White House said Thursday that President Trump had received another letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but did not disclose the content of the letter.

The president also suggested in a tweet Thursday that he and Kim may meet again after the two met in Singapore earlier this year, writing, “l look forward to seeing you soon!”

Thank you to Chairman Kim Jong Un for keeping your word & starting the process of sending home the remains of our great and beloved missing fallen! I am not at all surprised that you took this kind action. Also, thank you for your nice letter – l look forward to seeing you soon!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 2, 2018

At the summit, North Korea had agreed to eventually denuclearize in return for unspecified security guarantees from the U.S.

The country also agreed to return the remains of Americans killed in the Korean War. Fifty-five boxes of remains arrived in Hawaii this week, and the Department of Defense said the remains were “consistent” with Americans killed in the war.