Pompeo stresses Washington’s consistency on Pyongyang’s denuclearization

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has reaffirmed Washington’s view that an end-of-war declaration being led by South Korean President Moon Jae-in is part of North Korea’s denuclearization process.

Asked at a press conference held on Wednesday (local time) at the U.S. State Department whether declaring an end of war can happen without the North’s abandonment of nuclear weaponry, Secretary Pompeo answered, “So our position on that set of issues, that suite of issues with respect to denuclearization of North Korea, a brighter future for the North Korean people, which would obviously include documents that would change the status between North and South Korea. There’s been no change in the way the United States thinks about this.” He seemingly intended to say that an end-of-war declaration, which shifts the existing ceasefire on the Korean Peninsula to a termination of war, is an inseparable issue to discuss on the negotiating table from Pyongyang’s denuclearization. 　

At the same time, Secretary Pompeo called on Pyongyang to return to discussion. He said, “We continue to believe that there’s an important, good outcome for global peace and stability and for the North Korean people, and we hope that we can get back to the table and begin to have those discussions in a serious way and would ultimately lead to what the president of South Korea was speaking to.”


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