[AP/Yonhap News Photo]
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday hailed the "dawn of a new day" with North Korea as the U.S. pushes diplomacy to denuclearize the regime.
Chairing a meeting of the United Nations Security Council in New York, Pompeo sounded a hopeful note on the diplomatic negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang. But he also called for strict enforcement of all U.N. Security Council sanctions on Pyongyang until denuclearization is achieved.
"Past diplomatic attempts to halt North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile development were unsuccessful," Pompeo said. "But now we're at the dawn of a new day." Pompeo credited U.S. President Donald Trump with leading the international "pressure campaign" of sanctions against North Korea to achieve the "first significant diplomatic breakthrough in decades" through his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in June.
At that Singapore meeting, Kim committed to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in exchange for security guarantees from the U.S. The two leaders also agreed to work to establish "new" relations between their nations.
"We must not forget what's brought us this far: the historic international pressure campaign that this council has made possible through the sanctions that it imposed," Pompeo said. "Until the final denuclearization of the DPRK is achieved and fully verified, it is our solemn collective responsibility to fully implement all U.N. Security Council resolutions pertaining to North Korea." DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
(Yonhap)
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
