폼페이오, 내일부터 1박2일 평양 체류…북미 核담판 '2라운드'

America's top diplomat is set to leave for Pyongyang on Thursday.... for follow-up talks to the North Korea-U.S. summit last month.
The two sides are likely to discuss ways to ensure the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Lee Ji-won reports.
The next round of North Korea's denuclearization talks with the U.S. will take place later this week as U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visits Pyongyang for the third time on Friday.

Expected to arrive in North Korea's capital on Friday, local time, Pompeo is to stay overnight in North Korea for the first time, before leaving for Japan on Saturday.

During his two day stay in Pyongyang, Pompeo is expected to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and possibly vice chairman of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party's Central Committee Kim Yong-chol, to discuss how to implement the June 12th Joint Statement signed by the leaders of North Korea and the U.S.,... which includes Pyongyang's denuclearization.
With U.S. media reports recently showing skepticism over North Korea's sincerity in giving up its nuclear program, many are saying that Pompeo is going to have to come back with some concrete plans for the nuclear disarmament.

And as the State Department and Pompeo himself have said that the U.S. will not be presenting a denuclearization timeline to the North, many experts say a report on the size and the quantity of Pyongyang's nuclear program has to come first, not just to set an overall roadmap, but also to show the regime's commitment towards abandoning its nuclear weapons.

And with the introduction of the new phrase 'final, fully verified denuclearization' in a press statement by the State Department, some experts say that Pompeo could stress the 'verifiable' part of the process during this week's talk.

"From the mantra 'complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization' the U.S. changed to FFVD. The 'I' has disappeared which could be due to North Korea's protest in dealing with its nuclear scientists and knowledge. The emphasis is now on 'verified' and that's something Pompeo had also stressed at the press briefing the day before the summit. Their talks could very much focus on how to achieve this verification."

Reuters, however, reported that this change in mantra shows that the Trump administration has softened its approach toward North Korea's denuclearization. Citing U.S. officials, it said the U.S. realized that keeping China and Russia onboard would be more problematic if the U.S. stuck to an all-or-nothing posture.
Lee Ji-won, Arirang News.