Mike Pompeo says North Korea nuke talks advancing, both sides draw ‘red lines’

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Saturday that the U.S. and North Korea have drawn “red lines” outlining the limits of a denuclearization deal, as tough negotiations to hammer out the details of the deal continued following the Singapore summit.

Mr. Pompeo said the understanding of how far each side is willing to go gave the administration confidence about Pyongyang giving up its nuclear arsenal following President Trump summit last week with North Korea leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore.

“Both parties understand red lines, things that neither country is prepared to go passed, that give us an opportunity to believe that we really might for the first time — this is not the first rodeo negotiating with North Korea — that perhaps this time is different,” he said in an interview aired Saturday with Hugh Hewitt on MSNBC.

The administration also recognized that the deal could fall through, he said.

“The president has said this very clearly,” said Mr. Pompeo. “If this [time] isn’t different, if it is the case that Chairman Kim either is unable to or unprepared to denuclearize, sanctions will remain in place. The enforcement of those sanctions will continue and we will be back hard at it if the negotiations prove to be either not in good faith or unproductive.”

Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim signed a four-point declaration at the June 12 summit in which they committed to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in exchange for U.S. security guarantees.