The U.S. demand of total and “verified denuclearization” of North Korea won’t change even if the isolated nation’s missing-in-action dictator, Kim Jong-un, is replaced anytime soon, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday.
Mr. Pompeo said the Trump administration was not changing its bottom line even as rumors that Mr. Kim’s may be gravely ill — or dead — continued to swirl in the wake of his disappearance from public view for the past several weeks.
But Mr. Kim has been at the center of the extraordinary personal nuclear diplomacy pursued by Mr. Trump since the summer of 2018. Mr. Trump says the bond the two men forged has kept the prospects of a deal alive despite an apparent stalemate in talks.
South Korean officials claim the rumors — which have not been acknowledged in North Korea’s state-controlled press — are inaccurate, saying Mr. Kim is likely keeping a low profile to avoid exposure to the new coronavirus, U.S. officials have been far more noncommittal about the Pyongyang intrigue.
President Trump suggested Monday there may be classified intelligence on Mr. Kim, who has not been seen in public since April 11.
“I do know how he’s doing, relatively speaking,” the president told reporters when asked about the rumors. “You will probably be hearing in the not-too-distant future.”
Satellite imagery cited by the South Korea-based news outlet NK Pro has suggested Mr. Kim may be at a family compound on the North Korean coast. The imagery has shown movements of the leader’s prized luxury boats at the compound.
Last week, the U.S.-based North Korea monitoring organization 38 North, also reported on satellite images of what experts believe to be Mr. Kim’s personal train located at a station used for the compound.
Reports that Mr. Kim could be gravely ill or dead after undergoing cardiovascular surgery have surged following his surprising absence from festivities that day celebrating the birthday of his grandfather Kim Il-sung, founder of the communist dynasty. Significantly, no pictures of videos of the younger Mr. Kim have appeared in the North Korean press in more than two weeks.
Mr. Pompeo suggested Wednesday that U.S. officials are still in the dark over whether Mr. Kim, an overweight heavy smoker with a family history of heart disease, is dead or alive.
“We haven’t seen him,” Mr. Pompeo told Fox News on Wednesday morning according to Reuters. “We don’t have any information to report today. We’re watching it closely.”
He told reporters at the State Department that U.S. nuclear diplomacy is not dependent on one man.
“We did have a chance to interact with a number of North Koreans on our various trips,” said Mr. Pompeo, who traveled to Pyongyang at Mr. Trump’s direction to pursue talks with the regime.
He added that Mr. Trump also met several North Korean officials during his summits with Mr. Kim, first in Singapore in 2018 and then in Hanoi in 2019.
“We’ve had a chance to meet Chairman Kim’s sister and some of the other leaders there as well,” Mr. Pompeo said. Kim Yo-jong, Mr. Kim’s younger sister, is rumored to be a potential successor, though experts say it’s almost impossible to gauge the system’s inner workings.
“Our mission is the same, regardless of what transpires inside of North Korea with respect to their leadership,” Mr. Pompeo said. “Our mission … is to deliver on the agreement that Chairman Kim made with President Trump back in Singapore and that’s the fully denuclearized, verified denuclearization of North Korea.”
“We are still hopeful that we’ll find a path to negotiate that solution to get the outcome that is good for the American people, good for the North Korean people and the whole world,” Mr. Pompeo said. “Our mission simply won’t change, no matter what should transpire there.”
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, whose party just won a major midterm victory, has been a strong proponent of engagement with the North, but officials in Seoul say they too are trying to understand what, if anything, happened to Mr. Kim.
• Lauren Meier contributed to this report.
• Guy Taylor can be reached at gtaylor@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.