Tokyo • Hours after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hailed his two-day visit to Pynongyang as a “productive” round of “good-faith negotiations,” North Korea on Saturday sharply criticized U.S. negotiators’ attitude during the talks as “regrettable” and “robber-like,” accusing the United States of making unilateral demands to denuclearize.
The remarks exposed the fragility surrounding discussions at the center of President Trump’s foreign policy, raising questions about Pyongyang’s intentions and whether the Foreign Ministry’s statement represents a temporary outburst or if it signified a deeper misunderstanding between the two negotiating teams.
The statement, issued Saturday by an unnamed spokesman and shared by the state-run Korea Central News Agency, said the United States violated the spirit of the June 12 Singapore summit between President Donald Trump and North Norean leader Kim Jong Un.