North Korea says it wants someone more mature than US Secretary of State Pompeo for discussions
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North Korea said on Thursday it no longer wanted to deal with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and that he should be replaced in talks by someone more mature, hours after it announced its first weapons test since nuclear talks broke down, Reuters report.
North Korea’s state news agency said Kwon Jong Gun, in charge of U.S. affairs at the foreign ministry, had warned that no one could predict what would happen if Washington did not abandon the “root cause” that compelled Pyongyang to develop nuclear weapons.
The statement came shortly after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the test of a new tactical guided weapon, North Korea’s first weapon test since a summit between him and Trump broke down in late February.
U.S. officials appeared to play down both developments, with acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan telling reporters at the Pentagon that while there had been a test, it was “not a ballistic missile.”
A spokeswoman for the State Department said it was aware of the report about Pompeo and added: “The United States remains ready to engage North Korea in a constructive negotiation.”
