Pompeo North Korean brushes 'gangster' claim, purees denuclearization talks

TOKYO (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo brushed off North Korean accusations of "gangster-like" diplomacy during negotiations in Pyongyang, saying on Sunday he will pursue denuclearization talks after meeting his Japanese and South Korean counterparts.

Pompeo said in Tokyo North Korean leader Kim Jong A president of the United States Donald Trump in Singapore last month.

Pompeo's meeting with Japan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Taro Kono and South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha followed by Pyongyang that ended on Saturday.

"When we spoke to them about denuclearization, they did not push back," Pompeo told a news conference. "

Pompeo spoke after North Korea said the two days of talks with America's top diplomat" brought us in a "The road ahead will be difficult and challenging and we know that we will succeed." This is a dangerous situation where we can be shaken up in our denuclearization, rather than consolidating trust between the DPRK and the US ".

The statement, which was referred to the North of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), was made public by the KCNA news agency on Saturday, after Pompeo left Pyongyang.

Kim made a broad commitment in Singapore to "work toward denuclearization" but did not give details on how he would dismantle North Korea's nuclear program. Trump in turn with Pyongyang and pledged to a large-scale military drills with South Korea.

North Korea's latest comments, which came after Pompeo said talks had made progress, are a reminder of the difficulties that U.S. administrations have had negotiating with the reclusive Stalinist state and suggest that Pyongyang may not agree to any rapid denuclearization.

Leaked U.S. intelligence findings concluded that North Korea does not intend to give up its nuclear program completely.

Trump North Korea will not be allowed to threaten the United States with its ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons. His meeting with Kim in Singapore is often followed by rhetoric and threats.

MILITARY DANGER REMAINS

Pompeo said he did not meet Kim on his latest visit to Pyongyang, he had done twice before.

Richard Habad, President of the Council on Foreign Relations, said it was a danger war action could be called Kim.

"But this is not a serious test of diplomacy," Habad tweeted.

Japan's Kono thanked Pompeo and said the three allies had reaffirmed a commitment to retaining sanctions on North Korea until it abandoned nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles of all ranges.

"We confirmed that security badurances will be provided to North Korea as agreed in the summit. At the same time we have reaffirmed that the international community will continue to fully implement U.N. Security Council resolutions, "Kono said.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe earlier heaped praise on Pompeo at his residence in Tokyo.

"I would like to demonstrate my leadership in North Korea," Abe told Pompeo. "This really shows the unwavering bond of Japan-U.S. alliance. "

South Korea's Kang also lauded Pompeo and said her country did not believe the United States had weakened its demands on Pyongyang.

"Secretary Pompeo's visit to Pyongyang this time has taken the first steps," she said. "

Pompeo said before leaving for Pyongyang he was seeking to" fill in "details on North Korea's commitments and maintain the momentum towards the Singapore agreement between Trump and Kim.

U.S. intelligence officials earlier told Reuters Pompeo wanted to agree on an initial list of nuclear sites and an inventory that could be checked against available intelligence.

"There is still much work to do to establish the precise timeline of the various events will be," Pompeo said in Tokyo.

Pompeo said he had also pushed North Korea to a missile engine test site and that the United States would like that to happen "soon".

WORKING GROUP

He said talks had yielded an agreement to form a "working level" group to oversee day-to-day interactions between the United States and North Korea.

Panmunjom, on the border between the two Koreas, to discuss the return of the rest of the 7,000 U.S. soldiers still listed as missing in action since the 1950-53 Korean War.

KCNA said Pyongyang had been declared to have a formal post-1950-53 Korean War to mark the next month's anniversary of the armistice agreement. It said the U.S. side had shown little interest, giving "certain conditions and excuses".

Pompeo, an earlier rebadured by the North Korean agents in the 1960s and 1970s to train its spies.

"The settlement of the outstanding issues of concern surrounding North Korea, including the nuclear, missile and abduction issues, will be extremely important for Japan and also extremely important for peace and stability in the world," Pompeo told Abe.

In addition to requiring North Korea to complete, verifiable and irreversible abandonment of its nuclear weapons and missile programs, South Africa, the United States of America any major economic badistance.