Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who led several of the talks with North Korean officials prior to the summit in Singapore between President Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un this week, is headed to Beijing on Thursday to discuss the possible next steps of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Two days prior to Pompeo’s upcoming meeting with China, Kim Jong Un and President Trump signed a document agreeing to the “complete denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula while the U.S. provides security guarantees to North Korea.
Secretary of State Pompeo will meet with several of North Korea’s neighboring countries to discuss the summit and the next steps on topics such as sanctions, verification methods to ensure North Korea’s denuclearization and human rights abuses in the country.
During the summit, President Trump agreed to halt the “war games” with South Korea, which are annual military exercises conducted between the U.S. and South Korean forces, which North Korea often condemns and views as practice of invasion of its country.
“We save a fortune by not doing war games, as long as we are negotiating in good faith – which both sides are,” Trump said in a recent tweet after calling the exercises “provocative” in a press conference after the summit.
We save a fortune by not doing war games, as long as we are negotiating in good faith – which both sides are!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 13, 2018
China will play a large role in negotiations with North Korea, as well as how sanctions on North Korea will be handled.
“Regarding the issue of lifting sanctions on the DPRK you mentioned, the relevant [United Nations] Security Council resolutions stipulate that we shall adjust sanction measures as may be needed in light of the DPRK’s compliance, including suspending or lifting relevant sanction measures,” Chinese Foreign Minister Spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters.
Trump said that for now, sanctions on North Korea will remain in effect.
