US Secretary of the State Mike Pompeo, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono briefed the media this morning in Seoul, after discussing their commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Pompeo says cooperation with Japan and South Korea has been crucial. He also said that he's confident that follow-up US-DPRK talks will resume "sometime in the next week". The US Secretary of the State also expressed hope that "major disarmament" steps can occur before the end of Trump's first term, in January 2021. Pompeo stressed that sanctions will not be lifted for now, despite DPRK state media reports saying President Trump agreed they would be.

MIKE POMPEO US SECRETARY OF STATE "The world should rest assured that the United States, ROK and Japan remain committed to achieving the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of North Korea. US will not ease sanctions until the North denuclearizes."