Pompeo: U.S. as committed as ever to U.N. sanctions on N. Korea

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a press conference at the White House this past June in this file photo. Reuters-Yonhap

The United States remains committed to enforcing United Nations sanctions on North Korea to achieve the full dismantlement of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday.

North Korea is under a wide array of U.N. and U.S. sanctions for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and Pyongyang has sought to win sanctions relief as part of a denuclearization deal with Washington.

Pompeo reiterated the U.S. stand that it will not back down from sanctions before North Korea takes credible steps toward denuclearization.

"The United States is as committed as ever to continuing to enforce those U.N. Security Council resolutions," he said during a press conference at the State Department. "We believe they are central to President Trump's efforts to convince Chairman Kim that full, final denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is necessary."

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un committed to work toward the "complete denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula after his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore in June. In return, Trump promised security guarantees from the U.S.

Pompeo said North Korea needs to denuclearize "in a way the world can see that there's been this strategic change in Chairman Kim's core understanding of how he will provide a better future for the North Korean people."

"He said it at the summit in Singapore and we are still continuing to have many conversations with the DPRK about how to effectuate in achieving all the commitments that were made during the Singapore summit," the secretary added, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Pompeo also accused Russia of undermining the U.N. sanctions.
And he called on the U.N. committee monitoring sanctions implementation against North Korea to maintain its independence from what he said were Russian attempts to change the language in the panel's reports. (Yonhap)

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