Beijing Hopes For US-N.Korea Talks Continuation After Pyongyang's Call To Replace Pompeo

Sumaira FH Published April 19, 2019 | 04:05 PM

China hopes for continuation of the dialogue between North Korea and the United States after the demands of Pyongyang to replace US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as a negotiator at the talks, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Lu Kang, said on Friday

BEIJING (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th April, 2019) China hopes for continuation of the dialogue between North Korea and the United States after the demands of Pyongyang to replace US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as a negotiator at the talks, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Lu Kang, said on Friday.

The head of the North Korean Foreign Ministry's department for the US affairs called on Thursday for the replacement of Pompeo with a "more careful and mature" negotiator, putting the blame on him for the failure of the February summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

"We took notice of the relevant messages, but we are not in a position to comment on this somehow. The Chinese side, on its part, hopes that North Korea and the United States will maintain the positive dynamics in their dialogue. We also hope that the talks and meetings of the two sides will bring positive results, which will certainly help achieve political settlement on the Korean Peninsula," Lu said at a briefing.

A US State Department official told Sputnik on Thursday that Washington stands ready to continue dialogue with North Korea despite the statement from Pyongyang.

Since 2018, North Korea has been engaged in denuclearization talks with the United States. Kim and Trump expressed their commitment for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula at their first bilateral meeting in Singapore last June.

The two leaders met for the second time in Vietnam in February. However, their talks abruptly finished without any declaration or agreement after the parties failed to reach a consensus on what each of them was ready to give up in order to secure the deal. While Pyongyang has been seeking the lifting of the international sanctions, imposed on it due to North Korea's repeated weapons and nuclear tests, Washington has been insisting that Pyongyang should abandon its nuclear program.