Washington: North Korea should not expect rewards from talks with the United States until it takes irreversible steps to give up its nuclear weapons, President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, CIA Director Mike Pompeo, said .
Pompeo said the historical analysis was “not optimistic,” when asked at his Senate confirmation hearing if he believed North Korea would agree to dismantle its nuclear programme. He said that in past negotiations the United States and the world had relaxed sanctions too quickly.
“It is the intention of the president and the administration not to do that this time to make sure that … before we provide rewards, we get the outcome permanently, irreversibly, that it is that we hope to achieve,” Pompeo said.
“It is a tall order, but I am hopeful that President Trump can achieve that through sound diplomacy,” he said.
Trump has said he plans to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in May or early June and hopes the discussions will ultimately lead to an end of North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme, which Washington sees as its most pressing security threat.
