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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stressed the need for “action” rather than talk in calling for North Korea’s denuclearization.

The message of pressure against Pyongyang is one of several over the past several days as Washington pursues a “package deal” involving complete denuclearization and sanctions relief rather than the step-by-step approach demanded by the North.

“Talk is cheap,” Pompeo said in a Mar. 12 interview with five local news outlets during a visit to Houston.

“We only will value action,” he said. “What we’ll need to see is action.”

Pompeo’s public message to the North came eight days after remarks on Mar. 4 suggesting the US was committed to dialogue.

“I am hopeful [. . .] that I’ll have a team in Pyongyang in the next couple weeks,” he said at the time.

In the intervening days, White House National Security Advisor John Bolton, an ultra-hardliner on North Korea, has clearly taken the lead in calling for a “big deal” swapping sanctions relief for the elimination of North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction, including all nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. State Department Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun, who previously called for dialogue, has also joined the hardline chorus, insisting on Mar. 11 that the US is “not going to do denuclearization incrementally” and demanding a “total solution.”

In his interview, Pompeo stressed that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is “committed to denuclearize.” Noting that he had met with Kim four to five times, Pompeo said the leader had “told me that [he was committed to denuclearization] face to face, personally, no less than half a dozen times.” His remarks appeared to be a reference to his three meetings with Kim in Pyongyang and attendance at the first and second North Korea-US summits.

“[Kim] did not arrive there [at the Hanoi summit on Feb. 27–28] prepared to do as much as we need him to do,” Pompeo said.

Pompeo also alluded to keeping sanctions in place until Pyongyang takes action on denuclearization, noting the constraints the North has faced as a result of restrictions on refined oil imports.

At the same time, he left the door open for negotiations, stressing that dialogue was ongoing.

“This is a long journey,” he stressed. “We’ve been at this for a couple decades in the United States.”

By Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]