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Pompeo to press DPRK into living up to the Singapore summit
Politics
CGTN

2018-07-04 20:28 GMT+8

Updated 2018-07-05 07:49 GMT+8

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Thursday "to continue consultations and implement the forward progress made by President Trump and Chairman Kim in Singapore", the State Department confirmed. 

Trump wants to engage DPRK on the outcomes of the Singapore summit

Secretary Pompeo's visit is viewed as the Trump administration's effort to urge DPRK to keep its commitment to complete denuclearization. Some American politicians and members of the media still share doubts on the DPRK's determination and willingness to do so.

The Washington Post reported on some US officials' doubts that DPRK intends to fully surrender its nuclear stockpile.

This is Pompeo's third journey to DPRK this year to meet with Kim Jong Un.

Kim Jong Un (R) meets Mike Pompeo in Pyongyang on May 9, 2018. /File Photo

Some analysts consider it a critical meeting because the Trump administration and DPRK government still do not share the same timeline for the Korean Peninsula's denuclearization, according to a Bloomberg article published on Tuesday.

While Trump wants more progress, the DPRK government would prefer a more gradual process toward its own disarmament.

During his visit, Pompeo may press the DPRK into allowing for the recovery of some of the almost 7,700 soldiers still unaccounted for after the 1950-1953 Korean War, the most concrete agreement to come out of Trump-Kim summit.

US officials have said that the DPRK has already identified about 200 sets of remains that could be quickly recovered, also reported by Bloomberg. 

Mike Pompeo (R) shakes‍ hands with Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of the central committee of DPRK's ruling Workers' Party, during their meeting in New York, May 31, 2018. /File Photo

Pompeo may push to denuclearize sooner

In preparation for the two-day trip, US and DPRK officials are reported to have met in the demilitarized zone between the ROK and DPRK over the weekend, amid reports that Pyongyang is stepping up its nuclear and missile programs since last month’s Singapore summit, reported in an article by the Guardian appeared on Monday.

After the Singapore summit, Donald Trump tweeted that: “There is no longer a nuclear threat” from DPRK.

The summit was presented as a big diplomatic achievement of the Trump administration in proceeding to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Trump called the document "very comprehensive," although it was unclear to the Trump administration what commitments the DPRK leader ultimately was committed to.

Read more: Trump says nuclear talks with DPRK 'going well'

Kim Jong Un (L, center) meets US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Pyongyang on May 9, 2018. /File Photo

The US does not fully trust the DPRK

According to an NBC News report earlier this month, recently, even as the two countries engaged in diplomacy, US intelligence claimed that DPRK was stepping up its production of enriched uranium for nuclear weapons, five US officials say, citing the latest intelligence assessment.

The DPRK and the US agreed at the summit to "work toward" denuclearization, but there is no specific deadline or detailed arrangement of the deal.

On Trump's order, the US military canceled training exercises on the Korean Peninsula.

While the DPRK has stopped missile and nuclear tests, "there's no evidence that they are decreasing stockpiles, or that they have stopped their production," said one US official briefed on the latest intelligence.

"There is absolutely unequivocal evidence that they are trying to deceive the US", NBC News reported on Sunday.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that the DPRK had expanded a factory for manufacturing solid fuel ballistic missiles in Hamhung, based on satellite imagery analyzed by the Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS) at Monterey, California.

The State Department said in a press release that Pompeo will visit Pyongyang as part of a week-long trip to Asia and Europe.

He will remain in Pyongyang until Saturday to “continue consultations and implement the forward progress made by President Trump and Chairman Kim in Singapore,” the State Department said.

He will then travel to Tokyo for two days, followed by two day stops in Vietnam, Abu Dhabi and Brussels, respectively.

Pompeo will be in Brussels for the NATO Summit, which President Trump will also attend.

US President Donald Trump (R) and DPRK leader Kim Jong Un shake hands following a signing ceremony during their historic summit, at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore on June 12, 2018. /VCG Photo 

The DPRK's response is Trump's big hope

With domestic political pressure building up, the Trump administration desires more diplomatic progresses to convince both political parties and the American public that DPRK is no longer a threat to America's security.

With no actual disarmament deadline announced by the leaders' Singapore summit, more affirmative responses from the DPRK side will be a relief to the US authority and its allies.

White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders would not comment Monday on intelligence reports about the DPRK's nuclear program, but said the administration is "continuing to make progress" in talks with the DPRK, reported by The Hill's website.

"We see progress and momentum in the process, and we've had good conversations as recently as yesterday, and we're going to continue those conversations later this week and push forward," Sanders said.

Pompeo told CNN last week that he would not put a timeline on negotiations with Kim Jong Un, but he said the Trump administration will regularly assess DPRK's seriousness about abandoning its nuclear program as the US moves toward normalizing relations with Pyongyang.

(Top image: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo exits after speaking to the media following a morning meeting with DPRK envoy Kim Yong Chol on nuclear disarmament, May 31, 2018, in New York City. /VCG Photo)

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