Pompeo pledges coordination with Japan in N Korea talks, to raise abduction issues
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said he will coordinate closely with Japan during denuclearization talks with North Korea and promised to raise the issue of the abduction of Japanese citizens in his meetings in Pyongyang.
Pompeo met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Saturday on the eve of his fourth visit to North Korea, during which he will be looking to arrange a second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and prepare a path forward on denuclearization.
"We will have a fully coordinated, unified view of how to proceed, which will be what is needed if it is going to be successful in denuclearizing North Korea," Pompeo told Abe. "We will bring up the issue of the abductees as well."
Pompeo also said ties between Japan and the United States were strong and the two countries were in a position to make progress on trade talks.
Despite Kim's pledge to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, Japan still considers North Korea to be a "dire threat," and is pushing ahead with plans to bolster its ballistic missile defenses with Aegis Ashore batteries that can target warheads in space.
Speaking abroad his plane on Friday, Pompeo said his mission was to "make sure that we understand what each side is truly trying to achieve and how we can deliver against the commitments that were made" in Singapore. He said they would develop options, if not finalize, the location and timing of a second Trump-Kim summit.
Pompeo's last visit to North Korea failed to make progress with Pyongyang denouncing him for making "gangster-like demands."
North Korean authorities have complained about continued US and international sanctions on their country, calling those measures a "source of mistrust."
Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho said, "there is no way we will unilaterally disarm ourselves first."
Following his visit to Pyongyang, Pompeo will visit South Korea for a meeting with President Moon Jae-in and Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, and stop over in China on Monday, the US State Department said.
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