Pompeo will meet the right arm of Kim Jong-un to talk about denuclearization

The talks are continuing. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will meet this week in New York with his North Korean "counterpart", the right-hand man of
Kim Jong-un, in order to relaunch discussions leading to a new summit between the strongman of Pyongyang and
Donald Trump.

On Fox News, Mike Pompeo said on Sunday that he would meet "this week" in New York with General Kim Yong Chol, one of Kim Jong-un's closest badociates.

"I expect us to make real progress"

Kim Yong Chol has been a regular interlocutor with Washington since the resumption of dialogue between the two countries. In the spring, he had already met Mike Pompeo in New York before being received by Donald Trump at the White House. The US secretary of state did not specify the exact day of the meeting, but it should be held midweek, the first two days of the week being dominated by mid-term legislative elections in the United States. .

"We will have a good opportunity to continue talks on the denuclearization" of the North Korean regime, he said on Fox News. "I expect that we will make real progress, especially so that the summit between our two leaders can be held," he continued on another channel, CBS.

The very delicate issue of denuclearization

Since the historic meeting between Donald Trump and Kim on June 12 in Singapore, a second face-to-face meeting between the two men is regularly discussed. "I like him and he likes me," said the US president last month. "Three or four" places are being considered for this new summit, he said.

This summit, and next week's meeting between Mike Pompeo and Kim Yong Chol, should allow both nations to advance on the very delicate issue of the denuclearization of the North Korean regime. North Korea, struck by stifling economic sanctions for its economy, seems to be getting impatient.

" I'm not worried "

The North Korean Foreign Ministry has just declared that Pyongyang could return to its policy of "simultaneous development" of its nuclear capabilities and its economy if the United States does not change its attitude. "I'm not worried, we've already seen this during the negotiations," moderated Mike Pompeo Sunday morning on CBS, before reaffirming its inflexibility: "No economic respite before reaching our final goal."

"It's not just the complete denuclearization, but our ability to verify that it took place that is a prerequisite for the lifting of economic sanctions," he said.