{"id":48533,"date":"2018-07-05T20:06:35","date_gmt":"2018-07-05T20:06:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/07\/05\/us-says-no-softening-in-stand-as-envoy-heads-to-north-korea\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T07:56:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:56:55","slug":"us-says-no-softening-in-stand-as-envoy-heads-to-north-korea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/07\/05\/us-says-no-softening-in-stand-as-envoy-heads-to-north-korea\/","title":{"rendered":"US says no softening in stand as envoy heads to North Korea"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ANCHORAGE, Alaska \u2014 The State Department pushed back Thursday against suggestions the Trump administration has softened its stance on North Korea as the top U.S. diplomat traveled to Pyongyang for crucial nuclear talks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Spokeswoman Heather Nauert told journalists accompanying Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that U.S. policy has not changed and that, \u201cWe are committed to a denuclearized North Korea.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/07\/03\/doubts-on-north-korean-denuclearization-shadow-pompeo-visit\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18183351726743.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Doubts on North Korean denuclearization shadow Pompeo visit<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Three weeks after the U.S.-North Korea summit and ahead of an impending trip to North Korea by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a leaked U.S. intelligence report and an analysis of satellite data suggest the North may be continuing its nuclear and missile activities despite a pledge to denuclearize.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pompeo is due in Pyongyang on Friday. He will be pressing for North Korea to take concrete action to back up its broad commitment to \u201ccomplete denuclearization\u201d of the Korean Peninsula made at the June 12 summit between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLooking forward to continuing our work toward the final, fully verified denuclearization of #DPRK, as agreed to by Chairman Kim. Good to have the press along for the trip,\u201d Pompeo tweeted Thursday. DPRK is the abbreviation of the authoritarian nation\u2019s official name, the Democratic People\u2019s Republic of Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"637\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18186210485184.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-88943\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18186210485184.jpg.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18186210485184.jpg.jpg?resize=300,187 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18186210485184.jpg.jpg?resize=768,478 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo boards his plane at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Thursday, July 5, 2018, to travel to Anchorage, Alaska on his way to Pyongyang, North Korea. Pompeo begins a trip traveling to North Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Abu Dhabi, and Brussels. (Andrew Harnik\/Pool via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite reports that North Korea is continuing to expand facilities related to its nuclear and missile programs and that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/06\/22\/north-korea-pledges-to-destroy-missile-test-engine-site\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">U.S. intelligence is skeptical<\/a> about its intentions to give up its weapons, Trump has remained upbeat, tweeting this week, \u201cMany good conversations with North Korea.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There\u2019s been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/06\/24\/trump-declares-north-korea-still-poses-extraordinary-threat\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">mixed messaging from the administration<\/a> before what promises to be a tough negotiation to get the Pyongyang to roll back its weapons capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/06\/13\/trump-claim-raises-eyebrows-north-korea-no-longer-a-nuke-threat\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"207\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18164353978493.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Trump claim raises eyebrows: North Korea no longer a nuke threat?<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">President Donald Trump stretched credulity at home and abroad Wednesday by declaring there is \u201cno longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea\u201d after his summit with Kim Jong Un that reduced tensions but produced no details on how or when Pyongyang might disarm.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">National security adviser John Bolton, who has expressed hardline views on North Korea, said Sunday that Pompeo will present Pyongyang with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/07\/01\/bolton-says-the-us-has-a-plan-to-dismantle-north-koreas-nuclear-program-within-a-year\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">a plan to complete the dismantling of the North\u2019s nuclear and missile programs<\/a> in one year. On Tuesday, Nauert walked that back, declining to give a timeline. Pompeo himself has previously said the U.S. wanted North Korea to take \u201cmajor\u201d disarmament steps in the next two years before Trump completes his first term in office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This will be Pompeo\u2019s third trip to North Korea in three months. He last visited in May <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/05\/08\/pompeo-en-route-to-north-korea-to-finalize-trump-kim-summit\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">ahead of the Trump-Kim summit<\/a> and traveled there secretly in early April while he was director of the CIA.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/04\/22\/road-to-north-koreas-denuclearization-is-littered-with-failure\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"176\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18111355411423.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Road to North Korea\u2019s denuclearization is littered with failure<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">While Seoul and Washington welcomed Pyongyang\u2019s declaration on Saturday to suspend further intercontinental ballistic missile tests and shut down its nuclear test site, the past is littered with failure.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pyongyang will be the first stop on his first around-the-world trip as America\u2019s top diplomat. He will then travel to Japan, Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates before heading to Belgium, where he will accompany Trump at the NATO summit in Brussels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The State Department pushed back Thursday against suggestions the Trump administration has softened its stance on North Korea as the top U.S. diplomat traveled to Pyongyang for crucial nuclear talks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":88939,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":13,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,13,24,89,16,26,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2978],"class_list":["post-48533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"4POVZJBN7JB7TJGKOLMIGLIN74","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2018\/07\/05\/us-says-no-softening-in-stand-as-envoy-heads-to-north-korea\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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