The United States is assuring North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that his ouster is not part of the agenda for the summit next month between Kim and President Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday.

“We will have to provide security assurances, to be sure,” Pompeo said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.”

The promise not to invade North Korea or otherwise seek Kim’s overthrow would be incentive for him to give up his nuclear weapons.

“This has been a trade-off that has been pending for 25 years,” Pompeo said, referring to the long history of failed negotiations with Pyongyang as well as the North Korean narrative that the United States is a mortal threat.

Trump is scheduled to meet Kim in Singapore on June 12 for an unprecedented summit.

On CBS’ “Face The Nation,” Pompeo said he had already provided that assurance to Kim.

Advertisement

“I have told him that what President Trump wants is to see the North Korean regime get rid of its nuclear weapons program, completely and in totality, and in exchange for that we are prepared to ensure that the North Korean people get the opportunity that they so richly deserve.”

“No president has ever put America in a position where the North Korean leadership thought that this was truly possible, that the Americans would actually do this, would lead to the place where America was no longer held at risk by the North Korean regime,” Pompeo said.

The U.S. position is not new – Pompeo’s predecessor, Rex Tillerson, also had stressed that the United States would not seek Kim’s ouster – but it carries additional weight now that Trump and Kim are to face to face. It is also significant because of past statements by both Pompeo and new White House national security adviser John Bolton about potential regime change in North Korea.

Pompeo said last year that the most dangerous element of the North Korea nuclear weapons problem “is the character who holds the control” over the weapons.

However, he told senators during his confirmation hearing last month that he does not support regime change in North Korea.

Bolton, speaking Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” said his own past advocacy for regime change in North Korea and in Iran were the views of “a free agent” and are irrelevant to his current job. “I’m the national security adviser to the president,” but Trump calls the shots, Bolton said.

As recently as December, Bolton had said that he favored “regime elimination” in North Korea. “My proposal would be: Eliminate the regime by reunifying the peninsula under South Korean control,” Bolton had said on Fox News, where he was a frequent commentator. Asked whether he is calling for regime change, he replied, “Yes.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.