Pompeo: North Korea Must Denuclearize
Incoming CIA Director Mike Pompeo is not optimistic about the planned meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. During his Senate confirmation hearing, Pompeo said that history is not on the side of a peaceful resolution between the United States and North Korea.
According to Pompeo, former U.S. Presidents George Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama tried to negotiate a denuclearization agreement with Kim Jong-Il then with his son and successor, Kim Jong-Un but to no success.
Pompeo believed the previous administrations rushed to make the negotiations happen; a mistake President Trump wants to avoid:
“It is the intention of the president and the administration not to do that this time to make sure that before we provide rewards, we get the outcome permanently, irreversibly, that it is that we hope to achieve. It is a tall order, but I am hopeful that President Trump can achieve that through sound diplomacy.”
The meeting between President Trump and Kim are scheduled after the summit between South and North Korea. President Trump hopes the meeting can take place either on May or June and disclosed representatives from both sides were working round- the- clock to make this happen.
Considering the rising tensions on the trade front between China and the United States, President Trump praised Beijing for its hand in guaranteeing peaceful negotiations:
“They’ve (China) been really terrific at helping us get to some kind of settlement. Meetings are being set up right now between myself and Kim Jong-Un. I think it will be terrific. I think we’ll go in with a lot of respect and we’ll see what happens.”
President Trump allayed fears that relations with China were strained because of the tit- for- tat levy of tariffs on both countries’ imports:
“We are getting along very well, think we’re going to do some great things. Getting rid of nuclear weapons was very good for them, good for everybody.”
Pompeo said the objective of the United States heading into its meeting with North Korea was to get the regime to “step away”, meaning completely dismantle its nuclear weapons development program.
However, Pompeo made it clear that until such time a comprehensive resolution was arrived at, the administration remains open to all options including the use of military force.
The incoming CIA Director also stressed he was not pushing for regime change. In the past, North Korea had accused Pompeo of trying to remove Kim from position after he was quoted as saying that it was important to separate the country’s nuclear weapons from “the character who holds control over them.”
Early this year, North Korea also accused the CIA for trying to have Kim assassinated during a military parade in Pyongyang. According to North Korea, the CIA was working with South Korea’s own intelligence on the plan to assassinate Kim.
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