North Korea demands sanctions relief before any nuclear concessions

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is undermining the prospects for successful negotiations to dismantle North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un’s nuclear weapons program, a regime diplomat alleged Saturday.

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho denounced U.S. calls for the world to maintain sanctions pressure — a mainstay of Pompeo’s diplomacy — as being inconsistent with President Trump’s position on the talks. Likewise, he maintained that the U.S. hasn’t responded appropriately to North Korea's “moratorium on nuclear tests and rocket launch tests” and apparent step to dismantle a missile factory.

“The United States, instead of responding to these measures, is raising its voice louder for maintaining the sanctions against [North Korea] and showing the attitude to retreat even from declaring the end of the war, a very basic and primary step for providing peace on the Korean peninsula,” Ri said at the ASEAN Regional Forum, per Channel News Asia.

Ri uncorked that rebuke shortly after a friendly public handshake with Pompeo, who had attended the forum but departed for Indonesia.

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