Washington’s top diplomat faced an intense day of negotiations with his North Korean counterpart today as the old foes strive to flesh out a tentative nuclear disarmament plan.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was ensconced in an elegant Pyongyang guest house for the second day of talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s right-hand man Kim Yong Chol.
It was not clear if Pompeo would be granted an audience with the Northern leader himself as he tries to develop a detailed road-map towards the “complete denuclearisation” of the Korean peninsula, as agreed by Kim and US President Donald Trump last month.
But talks were expected to continue at a large guest villa in an official compound in Pyongyang, a short distance from the imposing mausoleum where North Korea’s former helmsmen, Kim’s grandfather and father, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il lie in state.