BFF-05 Pompeo calls for ‘maintaining diplomatic and economic pressure’ on N. Korea

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BFF-05

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Pompeo calls for ‘maintaining diplomatic and economic pressure’ on N.
Korea

SINGAPORE, Aug 4, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
called Saturday for pressure to be maintained on North Korea as concerns
mount that Pyongyang is making slow progress towards denuclearisation.

In Singapore ahead of a major security forum, Pompeo called for
“maintaining diplomatic and economic pressure” against Pyongyang.

His North Korean counterpart, Ri Yong Ho, is also in the city-state for the
ASEAN Regional Forum, which takes place later in the day. But Pompeo said he
was yet to meet with him on the sidelines of the gathering.

At a landmark summit with President Donald Trump in June, the North’s
leader Kim Jong Un signed up to a vague commitment to “denuclearisation of
the Korean Peninsula” — a far cry from long-standing US demands for
complete, verifiable and irreversible disarmament.

While there have been small signs of progress since the summit, news
reports indicate Pyongyang is continuing to build rockets and there have been
concerns that some member states are relaxing the enforcement of United
Nations sanctions on the North.

BSS/AFP/SSS/0849 hrs