Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday that the United States will not ease sanctions against North Korea until it denuclearizes. Pompeo, meeting in Seoul with top South Korean and Japanese diplomats, said Trump’s claim that the North’s nuclear threat was over was issued with “eyes wide open,” and brushed off a North Korean state media report suggesting Trump would grant concessions even before the North fully rids itself of nuclear weapons. “We’re going to get denuclearization,” Pompeo said in the South Korean capital. “Only then will there be relief from the sanctions.” Pompeo emphasized that the drills, which North Korea claims to be preparation for a northward invasion, could still be resumed if Kim Jong Un stops negotiating in good faith.
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