Proving once again that he’s lacking even the basic skills of diplomacy, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cancelled his visit to Pyongyang last month. South Korean President Moon Jae-in and the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, on the other hand, have signed a joint statement following their bilateral talks in Pyongyang. The countries’ defence chiefs have meanwhile signed a separate military pact.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un to pay an official visit to Russia. The invitation came in a personal letter that was delivered earlier by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
“We will continue to implement all UN Security Council resolutions on North Korea. North Korea will receive relief only when it demonstrates verifiable and irreversible steps to denuclearization,” Mattis stated in Singapore on Sunday.
On Monday, in a speech billed as his first major policy address, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hailed “the coming pressure campaign on the Iranian regime.” Echoing his boss, Pompeo painted an image of Iranian militias and agendas running rampant across the Middle East.
Moscow has set up a working group to draw up plans for a new bridge across the Tumen River on the DPRK-Russian border, the country’s Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East said on Wednesday.
A senior North Korean diplomat will meet with former officials from the U.S. and South Korea amid plans for U.S. and North Korean leaders to meet.Choe Kang Il is headed to Finland on Sunday, according to Reuters, citing South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.
North Korea continues along the nuclear path. A new report warns that Pyongyang could amass a nuclear arsenal as large as 100 weapons by 2020. That would make the North a significant regional power.