Pompeo:

I'm Still in Charge of North Korea Negotiation Team

TEHRAN (defapress)- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he is still leading nuclear negotiations with North Korea a day after Pyongyang stressed that it no longer wanted to work with him.

News ID: 76938

Date: 20 April 2019 - 15:11

“Nothing has changed. We’ll continue to work to negotiate, still in charge of the team. President [Donald] Trump’s obviously in charge of the overall effort, but it’ll be my team,” Pompeo told reporters in Washington on Friday, The Hill reported.

The comments come after senior North Korean foreign ministry official Kwon Jong Gun said the nation wanted to negotiate its denuclearization with someone “who is more careful and mature”.

Whenever Pompeo “pokes his nose in, talks between the two countries go wrong without any results even from the point close to success”, Kwon stated, adding, “Therefore, even in the case of possible resumption of the dialogue with the United States, I wish our dialogue counterpart would be not Pompeo but other person who is more careful and mature in communicating with us.”

Kwon's comments came after North Korea announced on Thursday that it had tested the firing of a new "tactical guided weapon".

Talks between Washington and Pyongyang hit a roadblock earlier this year during a summit in Vietnam after Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un walked away without reaching an agreement on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.

Last week, Kim expressed openness to having a third summit with Trump, giving the US until year's end to be more flexible in negotiations.

Pompeo said Friday that he was still optimistic the two nations could reach a deal involving North Korea relinquishing its weapons.

“I’m still convinced we have a real opportunity to achieve that outcome,” he added.

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