Pompeo shrugs off North Korea's 'gangster' rebuke

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday brushed aside North Korea's accusation of "gangster-like" demands, maintaining that his third visit to the country was producing results but vowing that sanctions would remain until Pyongyang follows through on leader Kim Jong-un's pledge to get rid of his nuclear weapons.

Pompeo downplayed North Korea's statement after the talks in which the country's foreign ministry bashed hopes for a quick deal and accused the US of making "gangster-like" demands aimed at forcing it to abandon nuclear weapons.

The North's statement, coming so soon after Pompeo's trip, was sure to fuel growing skepticism in the US over how serious Kim is about giving up his nuclear arsenal.

'...I'd go nuts'

"If those requests were gangster-like, the world is a gangster," Pompeo said, noting that numerous UN Security Council resolutions have demanded that the North rid itself of nuclear weapons and end its ballistic missile programme.

"People are going to make stray comments after meetings," Pompeo said. "If I paid attention to the press, I'd go nuts."

TRT World spoke with Micheal Penn, who brings more from Tokyo on the disagreements between Washington and Pyongyang.

'Challenging' road ahead

Speaking after meeting with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts in Tokyo, Pompeo said his two days of talks in Pyongyang had been productive and conducted in good faith. 

But following the stinging commentary from the North, he allowed that the goal of denuclearization would be difficult and that much work remains.

"The road ahead will be difficult and challenging and we know critics will try to minimize what we have achieved," he said. 

Two days of talks with senior North Korean officials had "made progress," he said, and included a "detailed and substantive discussion about the next steps."

Those include the formation of working group to determine exactly how North Korea's denuclearisation will be verified and a Thursday meeting with Pentagon officials to discuss the return of remains of Americans soldiers killed during the Korean War.

Sanctions to 'remain in place'

Pompeo sought to dispel suggestions that the Trump administration has backed down from demanding the complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of the North's nuclear weapons. 

He said North Korea understood that denuclearisation must be "complete" and "verified."

However, Pompeo said the progress achieved thus far did not warrant any concessions. 

"While we are encouraged by the progress of these talks, progress alone does not justify the easing of the sanctions regime," he said.

"Sanctions will remain in place until final fully verified denuclearization as agreed to by Chairman Kim Jong-un has occurred," he said.

North dubs Pompeo visit 'regrettable'

Just hours after Pompeo arrived in Tokyo, the North blasted the discussions, saying the visit had been "regrettable."

In a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, the foreign ministry said the outcome of Pompeo's talks with senior official Kim Yong-chol was "very concerning" because it has led to a "dangerous phase that might rattle our willingness for denuclearisation that had been firm."

"We had expected that the US side would offer constructive measures that would help build trust based on the spirit of the leaders' summit ... we were also thinking about providing reciprocal measures," it said. 

"However, the attitude and stance the United States showed in the first high-level meeting (between the countries) was no doubt regrettable. Our expectations and hopes were so naive it could be called foolish."