[Aju News DB]
SEOUL -- The United States has demanded that North Korea ship some of its nuclear weapons, fissile material and long-range missiles out of the country within months after next month's summit between the two countries, sources said.
The U.S. made the demand during talks with the North to fine-tune the agenda of the summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un set for June 12 summit in Singapore, saying sanctions won't be relaxed unless the demand is met, the sources said. The North's response to the demand is not known, they said.
The demand suggests that the U.S. believes the North's pledge to suspend nuclear and missile testing is not enough and the communist nation should do more to demonstrate its commitment to abandon its nuclear and missile programs.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Pyongyang last week to discuss summit preparations with the North's leader and to bring home three American detainees. The North's state media said later that the two sides reached "a satisfactory consensus on the issues discussed." That suggests the North's response to the U.S. demand was not negative.
(Yonhap)
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
