Politico | Trump team doesn’t know what it wants from North Korea
The president and his top officials have been at odds with each other — and sometimes even themselves — when it comes to defining the U.S. negotiating position with Kim Jong Un.
This story is being published by the South China Morning Post as part of a content partnership with POLITICO. It was reported by Nahal Toosi and originally appeared on politico.com on May 31, 2018.
It was a quick but telling exchange.
At a House committee hearing earlier this month, Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas was grilling Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on the Trump administration's plans for North Korea. "How do you define the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula?" Castro asked.
"Well, we've said 'complete,'" Pompeo responded. Pressed further, Pompeo cited several components of North Korea’s nuclear program — including missile capability and fissile material production — that he said would have to go.
"Will you leave them with a civilian nuclear program?" Castro asked.
After a long pause, Pompeo replied that “we have said that it won't be appropriate for them to have the capacity to enrich." But he quickly modified his answer.
"I can't answer that question,” Pompeo admitted. “I'm not in a position that I can answer that question for you today."