Pompeo says a lot of work to be done at North Korean, U.S. nuclear talks
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said nuclear talks between U.S. and North Korean officials starting on Saturday near Stockholm to try to end months of stalemate needed to accomplish a lot of work, but added he was hopeful of progress.
The meeting at an isolated conference center on the Swedish capital’s outskirts will be the first formal working-level talks since U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met in June and agreed to restart negotiations that stalled after a failed summit in Vietnam in February.
Police had closed off the approaches to the complex facing the Baltic Sea on the island of Lidingo, where the delegations led by U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun and North Korea’s Kim Myong Gil were expected to meet.
Two motorcades entered the secluded center early on Saturday with a police officer confirming one carried the North Korean officials. The other included cars used by Biegun when he met Swedish Foreign Ministry officials on Friday.
The delegation from North Korea, also known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), which is under sanctions banning much of its trade due to its nuclear program, arrived in Sweden on Thursday after Pyongyang unexpectedly said talks would take place on Oct. 5.
Speaking during a visit to Athens on the last leg of a tour of southern Europe, Pompeo said he was hopeful of progress in the nuclear talks although there was much work to do.
Source: reuters.com
