Pompeo arrives in North Korea to discuss denuclearization

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held a first meeting in Pyongyang on Friday, where he hopes to obtain details of the denuclearization of North Korea after the historic summit between the northern leader -Korean, Kim Jong-Un and US President, Donald Trump .

The head of diplomacy was received by his counterpart Ri Yong Ho and Kim Yong Chol, the right arm of the North Korean leader, according to a group of journalists accompanying him.

President Donald Trump met Kim at a historic summit in Singapore on June 12 and since then has been optimistic about the prospects for peace on the divided peninsula since the Korean War (1950-53).

the communiqué signed by the two leaders did not include detailed commitments and Pompeo's mission is to negotiate a plan to achieve the "complete denuclearization " of the Korean peninsula.

the Singapore summit to a complete denuclearization of North Korea, "said Pompeo at a stopover at the US base in Yokota, Japan.

" The goal of my trip is to get details on this commitment and to continue "I expect the same from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)," said Pompeo, "I hope that the same something will happen in the implementation of what the two leaders agreed upon. "

For his part, President Kim's adviser told Pompeo: "The more we meet, the deeper our friendship will be" .

Then Kim Yong Chol added, "The more times come, the more confidence we can build between us."

This is Pompeo's third visit to North Korea. After three hours of meetings, they both broke up for dinner. Negotiations will continue Saturday, according to the US side.

Continue the work

In a tweet the Secretary of State said earlier that "it is expected in the future that we will continue our work until the end, "that is, to achieve a" complete and verifiable denuclearization of the DPRK ". President Kim. "

Washington hopes that this "complete" denuclearization begins in less than a year but many experts and observers, as well as critics of President Trump, warn that the promises from Kim to the top were not of great importance, and that the process can also take years, and that it really began.

Meanwhile, Pompeo and Trump advocated the maintenance of international economic sanctions, considering that they forced North Korea s & # 39; sit at the negotiating table.

The historic June meeting between Trump and Kim was negotiated in two Pompeo trips to Pyongyang, the first of them secret when he was still director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the second while He was already secretary of state.

After meetings Friday afternoon and Saturday Pyongyang Pompeo is to go to Tokyo to report the discussion to the Japanese and South Koreans.

His tour will then take him to Vietnam and Abu Dhabi, before finally meeting Trump in Brussels for the NATO summit next week.

JA