The United States has postponed a meeting between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a senior North Korean official scheduled for Thursday.
The US State Department said in a statement on Wednesday that Pompeo and vice chairman of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party Kim Yong Chol will meet when their schedules permit. The statement does not give a reason for the postponement.
The US had proposed the meeting to lay the groundwork for a second summit between President Donald Trump and the North’s leader Kim Jong Un. The State Department announced the meeting plan on Monday.
Pompeo has been demanding that Pyongyang take more measures to denuclearize. The North is urging the US to ease sanctions against the country. It also warned that it may return to its policy of simultaneously advancing nuclear and economic development.
A senior South Korean Foreign Ministry official expressed regret over the postponement.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, the official said South Korea’s government had expected the talks to result in substantive progress for denuclearizing and bringing permanent peace to the Korean Peninsula.
The US had postponed a meeting between Pompeo and North Korean officials in August, citing a lack of progress in denuclearization talks. But 2 months later, Pompeo visited the North and met Kim Jong Un.
Source: NHK