Thursday, May 10, 2018

A Closer Look At Secretary Of State Mike Pompeo's 13 Hours In North Korea


US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, right, attends a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, second from left, at the Workers' Party of Korea headquarters in Pyongyang, North Korea.

CNN: Pompeo's 13 hours in North Korea

Washington (CNN)The modified Boeing 757 had taken off from Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington late Monday night, bound for North Korea, when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo came to the back of the plane.

He was headed to Pyongyang, he told the only two reporters allowed on the trip, to nail down the agenda that President Donald Trump and Korean leader Kim Jong Un would tackle when they convene for their historic summit. Pompeo didn't know exactly who he'd meet, he said.

But he added that he would raise the issue of three Americans detained in North Korea, cautioning that he had no commitment for their release.

I hope North Korea "will do the right thing," he said. "We've been asking for the release of these detainees for 17 months," he added. "We'll talk about it again. It'd be a great gesture if they'd agree to do so."

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WNU Editor: Kudos to the U.S. and South/North Korean diplomats and their back-channels that we do not hear about who have made this all possible. They are the ones who are arranging the agenda and sorting out the details to drive this forward. On a side note .... U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo has certainly embraced his new job with an intensity that I have not seen for a long time. And not surprising, his next crisis is Europe and the Iran deal .... Pompeo to immediately pursue talks with allies on Iran: US officials (Reuters)