Our top story this morning...
More stop-start diplomacy with North Korea.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has admitted working-level negotiations with North Korea on the regime's denuclearization that had been expected to take place this month have yet to be arranged.
Lee Seung-jae reports.
Speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Thursday,... U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said tentatively-scheduled working-level denuclearization negotiations with North Korea are still in the air.
However, Pompeo reaffirmed that the U.S. is ready to resume talks with the North whenever the regime feels ready.
Earlier this month,... Pyeongyang proposed the two sides resume working-level talks in late September,... to continue negotiations on dismantling the North's nuclear weapons program in exchange for economic and political concessions from Washington.
Conditions for the resumption of talks seemed to have brightened in recent weeks,... as President Trump fired his hawkish former national security adviser John Bolton,... blaming Bolton's attitude for the breakdown of the nuclear talks.
Pompeo said he hopes "the phone rings" and the two sides get a chance to find a place and a time that works for the North Koreans,... indicating again, that Pyeongyang has not followed up on its initial proposal.
He added further talks would be good for both sides as well as South Korea, China, Japan and the rest of the world.
Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.
