Progress made during North Korea talks: Pompeo

International Desk: US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said on Saturday he had made progress “on almost all of the central issues” in talks with North Korea, including on setting a timeline for its denuclearisation, but work remained to be done.

Speaking to reporters after a day and a half of talks in Pyongyang, Pompeo said the two sides agreed to hold further discussions on July 12th on the repatriation of remains of Americans killed in the 1950-53 Korean War, and also discussed “modalities” for the destruction of a missile engine testing facility.

Mr Pompeo said he spent “a good deal of time” discussing a denuclearisation timeline and declaration of the North’s nuclear and missile facilities.

“I think we made progress in every element of our discussions,” he said, according to a pool report from US reporters who accompanied him to Pyongyang.

“These are complicated issues but we made progress on almost all of the central issues. Some places a great deal of progress, other places there’s still more work to be done,” he said.

Before leaving North Korea for Tokyo, Mr Pompeo shook hands with his interlocutor, Kim Yong Chol, a top North Korean party official and former spy agency chief, with whom he played a key role in arranging an unprecedented summit between US president Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12th.
 

Source: Agencies
 

risingbd/Dhaka/July 07, 2018/A K Azad