North Koreans are ever more clear and insistent, at least in public, that they gave nothing whatever to Trump for his summit and have no plans to give anything anytime soon. 1/x
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The summit communique promised to “work toward” denuclearization of “the Korean Peninsula.” No commitment to denuclearize, no verification. Yet Pompeo insisted to reporters verification was in there. Surely he meant it’s implied. But just as surely, NK didn’t want it in. 2/x
At this latest meeting, according to NK, Pompeo really did make demands along the lines of verifiable denuclearization. It’s reasonable to think this is true. Pompeo thinks the talks were productive. Yet NK said absolutely the opposite. 3/x
The North Koreans expressed shock and dismay at Pompeo’s “robber-like” demands, even though Pompeo may have asked no more than what he said NK already agreed to at the summit. Of course the communique shows they hadn’t quite agreed to that at the summit. 4/x
NK insists they expected different demands - “measures conducive to building trust.” NK offers a totally different picture of the talks than the US does. The US wants swift, total denuclearization. NK wants a process of gradual steps, which in the past have led nowhere. 5/x
Pompeo, however, again says NK went farther than NK says. "We talked about...achieving what Chairman Kim and President Trump both agreed to, which is the complete denuclearization of North Korea.” Again, NK didn’t commit to this: not to denuclearization, nor to NK alone. END
An added note. US officials have been aware how vague NK’s commitments have been, and view this period as a test: is NK serious? Pompeo’s statement maintains hope the answer can be Yes. NK’s statement expresses surprise that the US is even posing the question.
