More work before the second Trump-Kim summit: Pompeo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States is working to hold a second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but there is still work to be done to ensure that conditions are favorable. Friday.

"We are working on it. But there is still some work to be done to ensure that conditions are good and that both leaders are able to make substantial progress, "Pompeo told Fox News in an interview.

Pompeo told NBC News in a separate interview that he hoped the meeting could take place "before too long" and that he hoped that he himself would have the opportunity to return to Pyongyang to negotiate before that.

But he said international sanctions should stay on North Korea until he gives up his nuclear weapons, which pose a threat to the United States.

"In the end, it will be a decision for the president," said Pompeo at the second summit between Kim and Trump, after their unprecedented meeting on June 12 in Singapore.

"I hope that I will be able to travel again to Pyongyang to continue trading for too long," said Pompeo. "And then, too long – and in a relatively short time – I hope the two leaders will meet again to continue to progress on this incredible and important issue for the whole world."

Pompeo added to NBC that important steps had been taken at a summit between the two Koreas this week and that if much work was to be done, the United States had the patience and determination to achieve its goal.

Referring to the sanctions, Pompeo said: "These economic sanctions will remain in effect until the end, until we reach the final denuclearization, which President Kim has promised President Trump to undertake."

After meeting Kim this week, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said the North Korean leader wanted a second summit with Trump to speed up the denuclearization, but that the war from 1950 to 1950 the armistice, not a peace treaty.

Pompeo said on Wednesday he had invited the North Korean Foreign Minister to meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York next week.

Asked Thursday whether the meetings would take place, US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the invitations had been sent out and added, "We are certainly ready to meet if they can."

Moon and Kim spent most of a three-day summit discussing how to break the stalemate and revive nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington, denuclearization or the end of the war and sanctions. .

Kim, who recently proposed another summit with Trump, said after the summit that North Korea was willing to "permanently dismantle" missile facilities in the presence of outside experts and its Yongbyon nuclear complex.

Kim is committed to working on the "complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula" in two previous meetings with Moon and his meeting with Trump, but the follow-up negotiations on how to implement the vague commitments have since failed .

Washington called for concrete action and demanded full disclosure of North Korea's nuclear facilities and missiles before meeting Pyongyang's main demands.