Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday said that he could not promise that the summit between President Trump and Kim Jong Un was back on — but added that the US and North Korea were making progress in their ongoing discussions.
Pompeo and top North Korean official Kim Yong Chol concluded two days of talks in New York in advance of a possible summit, which originally was scheduled for June 12 in Singapore before Trump canceled it.
“I’m confident we’re moving in the right direction. Vice Chairman Kim and I discussed how our countries could come together and create [new] visions of the future,” he said.
“This is going to be a process that will take days and weeks to work our way through.”
North Korea, Pompeo added, has always believed that its nuclear weapons program was the only way the regime could guarantee its survival.
But while the Trump administration was still insisting on complete denuclearization, there were other ways that the North’s security could be assured, he added.
“Our two countries face a pivotal moment in our relationship in which it would be nothing short of tragic to let this opportunity go to waste,” he said. “It opens a front to lead to a new era of peace, prosperity and security. “
The North Korean official was expected to visit Washington on Friday with a letter from Kim Jong-un.
Asked whether he expected to know whether the summit would be back on by week’s end, he said he didn’t know, and that talks could continue for the foreseeable future.
“It should not be to anyone’s surprise that there will be moments along the way that this won’t be straightforward, that there will be things that look hard and times it appears there’s a roadblock and sometimes perhaps even perceived at insurmountable,” he said.
But, he added, the president and the North Korean dictator could make history if the North agrees to denuclearize in exchange for guaranteed security.
“If these talks are successful, it will truly be historic. It will take bold leadership from Kim Jong Un, if we are to seize this once in a lifetime opportunity to change the course of the world,” he said.
“We believe chairman Kim is the kind of leader who can make those decisions and in the upcoming weeks and month, we can test whether this is the case.”
Pompeo met with Kim, one of the North Korean leader’s closest aides, at the apartment residence of the US deputy ambassador to the United Nations in New York.
Kim is the highest-ranking North Korean official to visit the US in 18 years.
He and Pompeo had discussions over dinner of steak, corn and cheese on Wednesday, Pompeo said in an earlier tweet.
Earlier, Trump also sounded an optimistic note
“We are doing very well with North Korea,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews before departing on a trip to Texas.
“Our secretary of state is having very good meetings. I believe they will be coming down to Washington on Friday. A letter being delivered to me from Kim Jong Un. It is very important to them.”
“I think it will be very positive. We will see what happens. It is all a process. Hopefully, we will have a meeting on the (June) 12th,” Trump said, adding there may be multiple meetings but “maybe we’ll have none.”