U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, one of the key architects of the North Korea-U.S. summit,... has been on a whirlwind tour of the region to explain the summit outcomes to regional powers.
Fresh from talks in Seoul with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts on Thursday, Pompeo took a short flight west to Beijing for ta meeting with his Chinese counterpart.
He also had a sit down with Chinese President Xi Jinping before heading back to the U.S.
Park Hee-jun has the details. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi have reaffirmed that economic sanctions on North Korea will remain in place until the regime's complete denuclearization.
At a joint press conference following their bilateral meeting on Thursday,... Pompeo and Wang sounded optimistic about the recent developments on the Korean Peninsula,... but they agreed the scaling down of sanctions can only be on the table when North Korea has completely, verifiably and irreversibly abandoned its nuclear weapons program.
"China has reaffirmed its commitment to honoring the UN Security Council resolutions.... But we have made very clear, that the sanctions and the economic relief that North Korea will receive will only happen after the full denuclearization, the complete denuclearization of North Korea."
Pompeo also thanked China for its role in making the Kim-Trump summit happen,... but said more needs to be done by both countries to achieve the "ultimate outcome."
Wang, who said the summit held in Singapore held "great historic significance," also said it was a path to a "new start."
Before heading back to Washington, Pompeo held a separate meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The Chinese leader told Pompeo that he hopes the two countries can continue their efforts for a political resolution to the North Korea issue,... and added that Beijing will keep playing an active and constructive role to promote the process.
Park Hee-jun, Arirang News.
