US, North Korea Agree to Denuclearise the Korean Peninsula

Will the Korean Peninsula be denuclearised? North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo agreed to form a working group on denuclearization and discussed the possibility of allowing US inspectors to North Korean nuclear facilities. This was stated in a statement released on Sunday by the officials of the President of the Republic of Korea, Moon Jae-in, following his meeting with Pompeo.

“North Korea and the United States will form a working group to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the possibility of holding a new summit of the leaders of the United States and North Korea,” the report said. In addition, it notes, Pompeo and Kim Jong-un discussed the possibility of admission of US inspectors to the nuclear facilities of the DPRK.

It is also reported that Pompeo told President Moon-Jae-in that he had discussed certain “mutual steps” with Kim Jong-un. According to South Korean experts, this may indicate a willingness of Washington to compromise with adamant North Korea.

The Secretary of State also said that his meeting with Kim Jong-un was “good and productive.” He also noted the “crucial role” of Seoul in the process of denuclearization.

Moon Jae-in, in turn, said that Pompeo’s current visit to North Korea will help to achieve “tremendous progress” in the denuclearization of the peninsula. “I hope that the visit of Secretary of State Pompeo to Pyongyang and the second summit of the leaders of the USA and North Korea, which will take place in the near future, will help to achieve irreversible progress,” the president stressed.

Pompeo’s visit to North Korea

The US Secretary of State visited Pyongyang on Sunday, where he held talks with Kim Jong-un, and then went to South Korea to meet with its president. Upon arrival in Seoul, Pompeo posted on  Twitter a  message in which he noted successes in reaching an agreement on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. It began at the meeting of the American President Donald Trump and the DPRK leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore on July 12.

This is the fourth visit by the US Secretary of State to North Korea. On Monday, Pompeo will go to Beijing, where he will also hold a series of meetings with government representatives. As a member of the delegation who accompanied the US envoy told  Reuters the current visit was “better than the previous one”. At the same time, the official added that the process of denuclearization “will be long.”

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