Pompeo says U.S. to 're-engage' with DPRK, jokes his 'tweet leave'

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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday that the United States will "re-engage" with Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), over issues of mutual concern.

Pompeo made the remarks in an interview with B98 FM, a radio station in Kansas.

"We believe we're still moving forward. It's certainly difficult - we knew it would be. It's been a decades-long challenge," he said, according to the interview transcript circulated by the State Department.

"But we have the toughest economic sanctions in history," Pompeo said, adding that there was the most promising diplomatic engagement in history as well.

"And so we made a little bit more progress in Hanoi," he said, referring to the second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and the DPRK top leader.

"We'll re-engage with him. It's incredibly important that we take down the threat not only for America and for Kansas, but for the entire world," said the U.S. top diplomat.

Pompeo said on Friday that Washington is still hopeful for continued talks with Pyongyang, confirming that there is ongoing negotiation between the two sides.

DPRK's top leader Kim Jong Un meets U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Pyongyang on May 9, 2018. /VCG Photo

After ending the summit in Hanoi on February 28 without reaching an agreement, Trump told a press conference that Kim demanded relief from sanctions against Pyongyang "in their entirety" in exchange for denuclearizing a "large portion" of the DPRK's nuclear program, something the United States could not agree to.

Dismissing Trump's claim, DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho has said that DPRK only proposed partial removal of the sanctions, wanting those impeding the livelihood of their people to be removed first.

Pompeo serves as the U.S. 70th secretary of state and succeeded in becoming one of the rare original cabinet members who has not clashed with Trump.

Asked at a forum in his home state of Kansas how long he will remain secretary of state, Pompeo said to the audience's laughter: "I'm going to be there until he tweets me out of office," joking on his predecessor, Rex Tillerson, who was sacked by tweet after he returned from a trip to Africa.

Pompeo has made numerous hawkish statements about the DPRK. He once said Pyongyang would soon be able to threaten a U.S. city with nukes, and blasted previous U.S. presidents for failure to stop the perceived threat.

(With inputs from Xinhua)

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