Pompeo's Hope for a Third Meeting Between US and North Korean Leaders

Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State, stated on Friday, April 5, that he is confident that a third meeting between Donald Trump, the President of the United States, and Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, will take place. In an interview with CBS, Pompeo expressed hope that the third meeting of the US and North Korean leaders would occur 'soon.' However, he did not provide further details on this matter. The US Secretary of State also added, 'Although we have not achieved what the world desires, the two leaders now have a better understanding of each other.' Pompeo emphasized that 'the leaders of the two countries have made progress compared to their previous positions.' The second summit between the North Korean and US leaders ended on March 1 of last year in Hanoi, Vietnam, due to disagreements over North Korea's nuclear disarmament in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions without reaching a documented agreement. Donald Trump had mentioned that sometimes it is better to walk away from negotiations. In a press conference following his meeting with Kim Jong-un, the US President stated that they were asking for the lifting of all 'sanctions' in exchange for dismantling the facilities we wanted. The US President added, 'The North Korean leader said he would dismantle the Yongbyon nuclear facilities in exchange for lifting the sanctions.' Meanwhile, a North Korean official later stated that Pyongyang was only requesting the lifting of economic sanctions, which was a realistic proposal to initiate the nuclear disarmament process. The first meeting between the US and North Korean leaders took place in 2017 in Singapore. It is said that Kim Jong-un agreed at this summit to take steps towards denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, which could be interpreted as the withdrawal of US forces equipped with nuclear weapons from the region and dismantling the protective umbrella against nuclear weapons in South Korea. In contrast, the US government's demand is for the cessation of all nuclear and missile programs of North Korea.