폼페이오 "시간 걸릴 것 알아…북미, 조용히 진전 이루고 있다"<br /> U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the United States is making the progress it needs with regards to North Korea's denuclearization.<br />His remarks come as critics say negotiations are failing.<br />Lee Seung-jae reports. <br /> In an interview with Fox News,... U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States has "made steady albeit slow progress" in regards to North Korea's denuclearization.<br />Pompeo added that despite the slow progress,... the U.S. has "always known" it was going to take some time.<br /> The top U.S. diplomat reaffirmed continued talks between Pyeongyang and Washington,... saying the personal relationship between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and President Trump is "good".<br />He went on to say that the two talk "with some frequency," despite the lack of reports.<br /> Pompeo also pointed to the outcome of this week's third meeting between the leaders of South and North Korea,... saying it was a "successful engagement" that led to the North's promise to dismantle a missile testing site in front of international inspectors.<br />Earlier,... Pompeo issued a statement that welcomed the commitments made by Kim,... adding the U.S. is willing to "immediately" engage in talks with North Korea through a proposed meeting in Vienna,... as well as a proposed meeting between himself and North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly next week.<br /> Meanwhile, citing Pompeo's remarks to start negotiations again,... UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres expressed hope on Thursday that a complete, verifiable denuclearization of North Korea will be the end result.<br /><br /> "Now I've taken note of the fact that Secretary of State Pompeo is ready to start again, negotiations, and I'm hopeful,..(cut)... I hope that it will produce the result we all want, which I repeat, is full and verifiable denuclearization of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Korean peninsula in the context of regional security." <br /><br /> This comes as the UN Secretary General warned that negotiations between the two Koreas won't be successful unless there's simultaneous success in U.S.-North Korean negotiations to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.<br />Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News. <br />
