The Trump administration will not demand that North Korea provide a list of weapons and sites before proceeding with a second meeting between President Trump and N.K. leader Kim Jong-un, NBC News reported Thursday.
Vice President Mike Pence told the news outlet in an exclusive report that the second meeting will be about creating a “verifiable plan” to create a weapons and site list.
“I think it will be absolutely imperative in this next summit that we come away with a plan for identifying all of the weapons in question, identifying all the development sites, allowing for inspections of the sites and the plan for dismantling nuclear weapons,” Mr. Pence told NBC News.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim met for the first time face-to-face on June 12. It was there that they introduced the North Korean commitment to secularization, and in return, Mr. Trump canceled a war game demonstration with the South Koreans.
On Monday, The New York Times reported that the North Koreans were developing more than a dozen hidden bases that produced nuclear material and weapons.
Mr. Trump dismissed the reports Tuesday as “Fake News.”
“The story in the New York Times concerning North Korea developing missile bases is inaccurate. We fully know about the sites being discussed, nothing new - and nothing happening out of the normal,” Mr. Trump tweeted, “I will be the first to let you know if things go bad.”
Mr. Trump has remained optimistic about progress on North Korean negotiations, despite the fact that a meeting with Secretary of State Michael Pompeo was delaying.
The North Koreans have shown no sign of denuclearization yet, but the vice president was optimistic in his NBC News interview about the isolated nation ceasing its missile tests and returning U.S. hostages and the bodies of fallen soldiers.
However, both Mr. Pence and Mr. Trump have stressed that sanctions will not be lifted until there is a complete and proven plan to determine if the North Koreans are indeed working on denuclearization.
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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