FROM EIR DAILY ALERT
State Department Says Pompeo’s Talks with Kim Jong-un Were ‘Productive’
Oct. 8, 2018 (EIRNS)—The U.S. State Department reported, late yesterday, that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had a very productive meeting while he was in Pyongyang yesterday. According to the official readout of the meeting, Pompeo and Kim
“discussed the four elements contained in the U.S.-D.P.R.K. Singapore Summit Joint Statement signed by President Trump and Chairman Kim. They also discussed the upcoming second summit between President Trump and Chairman Kim and refined options for the location and date of that next summit.”
Pompeo and Kim
“also agreed to instruct their respective working-level teams to meet soon to intensify discussions on the key remaining issues to deliver on the Singapore Summit Joint Statement.”
It concludes by reporting that “President Trump looks forward to continuing to build upon the trust established with Chairman Kim in Singapore and anticipates meeting again soon.”
In remarks to the press, Pompeo said that the two sides were very close to working out the logistics of a second summit between Kim and Trump, but more importantly,
“both the leaders believe there’s real progress that can be made, substantive progress that can be made at the next summit, and so we’re going to get it at a time that works for each of the two leaders in a place that works for both of them,”
he said. “We’re not quite there yet, but we’ll get there.”
Pompeo clearly indicated that the real work to bridge the gaps that still exist, will be getting under way.
“We will be having more frequent and higher-level working group discussions than we’ve had in some time on a set of issues. So that was important good news,”
he said.
“So we really hope we can deliver some good outcomes when the summit takes place. But we do think, right, this is a place where, ultimately, some of these big, difficult issues have to be resolved by the nations’ most senior leaders, and we’re hoping to have those presented in a way that the two leaders can resolve them when they get together.”
Pompeo reported that Kim had told him that he was ready to let international inspectors in at both the Punggye-ri nuclear test site and the rocket engine test facility.
“As soon as we get it logistically worked out, Chairman Kim said he’s ready to ready to allow them to come in, and there’s a lot of logistics that will be required to execute that, but when we get them we’ll put them on the ground,”
he said. When asked about the Yongbyon reactor site, Pompeo would only say “we’re not going to talk about where we are in these negotiations except for things we have agreed to release with the North Koreans.”
The North Korean side also appears to be pleased with the outcome of the discussions with Pompeo. Pyongyang’s state media said on today that Kim lauded his talks with Pompeo, where Kim “explained in detail the proposals for solving the denuclearization issue,” reported Reuters.
“Kim Jong-un expressed satisfaction over the productive and wonderful talks with Mike Pompeo at which mutual stands were fully understood and opinions exchanged,” North Korean news agency KCNA said. Kim said the bilateral dialogue would continue to develop, “based on the deep confidence between the two leaders,” and expressed gratitude to Trump for making a sincere effort to implement the agreement made at their June summit, KCNA said.
In addition to Pompeo’s diplomacy, the South China Morning Post reported this morning that South Korean President Moon Jae-in told his cabinet that Chinese President Xi Jinping will be making his first visit to North Korea since 2013, though he gave no further details, and he even suggested that a North Korea-Japan summit was possible.
