Pompeo vows to push for N. Korea's quick denuclearization: Yonhap

By Lim Chang-won Posted : May 3, 2018, 07:45 Updated : May 3, 2018, 07:45

[AP/Yonhap News Photo]



WASHINGTON -- New U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo vowed to push for North Korea's denuclearization "without delay," setting the tone for a planned meeting between the two countries' leaders.

Pompeo made the remark at his official swearing-in ceremony just weeks ahead of a historic summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

"Our eyes are wide open," Pompeo said after being sworn in by U.S. Vice President Mike Pence at the State Department. Trump was also there to deliver congratulatory remarks. "A bad deal is not an option."

He said the U.S. faces an "unprecedented opportunity to change the course of history on the Korean Peninsula," but will not repeat the mistakes of past administrations in negotiating with the North. Pompeo traveled to Pyongyang over Easter weekend and met with Kim to prepare for the summit.

"We're in the beginning stages of the work," he said, noting that the outcome of the meeting is yet unknown. But he added it is time to solve the nuclear problem "once and for all." "We're committed to the permanent, verifiable, irreversible dismantling of North Korea's weapons of mass destruction program and to do so without delay," he said.
(Yonhap)
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