Roller-coaster nuclear diplomacy between the United States and North Korea hit highs and lows on Saturday as the countries’ top diplomats traded polite words and barbs, leaving efforts to rid the North of its atomic weapons at an uncertain juncture.
At a security conference in Singapore, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused North Korea and countries, including Russia of continuing to violate UN sanctions aimed at pressing Pyongyang to give up its nuclear arsenal. But at the same time, he oversaw the handover of a letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un from President Donald Trump and exchanged pleasantries with the North’s top diplomat.
N Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, meanwhile, greeted Pompeo with smile, but then delivered scathing attack on Trump administration for approaching negotiation poorly by insisting on sanctions enforcement. Ri said N Korea would not be forced into acting unilaterally and demanded that US undertake “confidence building” measures if the negotiation was to be successful.