{ "error": "", "type": "text", "title": "Secretary Pompeo's Remarks to the Media - North Korea", "slug": "secretary-pompeos-remarks-to-the-media-north-korea", "text": "
\"QUESTION:<\/strong> I wanted to ask about North Korea, Mr. Secretary. The North Koreans have a new commentary saying the end-of-war declaration issue should\u2019ve been resolved half a century ago in light of your trip coming up. Will it be resolved this weekend? And if not, what would be the reasoning against offering this?<\/p>\n SECRETARY POMPEO:<\/strong> So I\u2019m not going to comment on the progress of the negotiations on the end-of-war declaration or any other items, only to say this: I\u2019m very happy to be going back to get another chance to continue to advance the commitment that Chairman Kim and President Trump made back in Singapore in the second week of June. I\u2019m optimistic that we\u2019ll come away from that with better understandings, deeper progress, and a plan forward not only for the summit between the two leaders, but for us to continue the efforts to build out a pathway for denuclearization. [...]<\/p> QUESTION:<\/strong> Hi, Secretary. Question. Can you explain to us a little bit the practical reality of the U.S. terminating the amity with Iran, and just how we\u2019ll see that play out? And then secondly, just because we\u2019re going to North Korea, is there any timeframe for what the U.S. wants to achieve given that last week we heard President Trump say that they\u2019re not \u2013 the U.S. is not playing a time game, but you said that you want rapid denuclearization of North Korea completed by January 2021?<\/p>\n SECRETARY POMPEO:<\/strong> Those are entirely consistent with each other. We want it fast, but we\u2019re not going to play the time game. My comment about 2021 was not mine. I repeated it, but it was a comment that had been made by the leaders who\u2019d had their inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang. They\u2019d talked about 2021 when they were gathered there, and so I was simply reiterating this as a timeline that they were potentially prepared to agree to.<\/p>\n President Trump\u2019s comments are exactly right. This is a long-term problem. This has been outstanding for decades. We\u2019ve made more progress than has been made in an awfully long time. And importantly, we\u2019ve done so in a condition which continues to give us the opportunity to achieve the final goal, that is the economic sanctions continue to remain in place, the core proposition; the thing which will give us the capacity to deliver denuclearization isn\u2019t changing. If you heard the comments at the UN Security Council, complete unanimity about the need for those to stay in place.<\/p>\n The Russians and the Chinese had some ideas about how we might begin to think about a time when it would be appropriate to reduce them, but to a country, they were supportive of maintaining the UN Security Council resolutions and the sanctions that underlay them. That is a \u2013 that is a global commitment that I\u2019m not sure there\u2019s many issues in the world you can find such unanimity. And so my efforts this week will be one more step along the way towards achieving what the UN Security Council has directed the North Koreans to do.\"<\/p>",
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