US Secretary of State: Washington Won't Lift Sanctions on N. Korea Before Complete Denuclearization

TEHRAN (Defapress)- Pompeo stressed that the United States, South Korea and Japan are committed to complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of Korean Peninsula, adding that the US will not repeat earlier mistake of lifting economic sanctions on North Korea before complete denuclearization, Sputnik reported.

Pompeo noted that US President Donald Trump was very clear about the sequencing of North Korea’s denuclearization, with any easing of sanctions reserved for when Pyongyang gets rid of all nukes.

"We are going to get complete denuclearization. Only then will there be relief from the sanctions," he assured reporters after a trilateral foreign ministers’ meeting in Seoul, South Korea.

North Korean state media reported on Wednesday the US President had agreed to lift sanctions against Pyongyang in addition to providing security guarantees in the summit with the North’s leader, Kim Jong-un on Tuesday.

The US President was cited by North Korea’s official KCNA as saying he made the promise after pledging to end joint military exercises with South Korea.

The North Korean leader and the US President made history by shaking hands with each other at a top-level summit in Singapore on Tuesday morning and signed a document to pave the way for reconciliation and denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

Trump also told the press after meeting with Kim that the United States will halt military drills with South Korea while negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang continue.

North Korean leader has expressed “unwavering commitment” to complete denuclearization, the US President said after their first face-to face talks, adding that, however, sanctions against Pyongyang to stay in place.

Trump and Kim arrived in Singapore on Sunday to hold the first ever face-to-face meeting between leaders of the two countries, which have remained enemies since the 1950-1953 Korean War.

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