Pompeo, Abe pledge unified approach on North Korea

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday said that he would raise the issue of abductions as well as nuclear and missile concerns on behalf of Japan when he meets North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang on Sunday.

Pompeo landed in Tokyo before visiting Pyongyang and met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Both leaders vowed to work together as they held a photo call with journalists before their bilateral meeting, CNN reported.

The top US official said he wanted "a fully coordinated, unified view of how to proceed, which will be what is needed if we are going to be successful in denuclearizing North Korea".

Pompeo was expected to lay the groundwork for a second summit between US President Donald Trump and Kim while in Pyongyang. The trip will be his fourth to North Korea.

Since the Trump-Kim initial meeting in Singapore in June, negotiations between the US and North Korea have stalled. the US President cancelled Pompeo's planned trip to the North Korean capital in August, saying that North Korea had come through on any of its commitments to denuclearize.

Speaking to reporters en route to Japan, Pompeo said the purpose of his trip to North Korea was "to make sure we understand what each side is truly trying to achieve" and how each side was "seeking to approach" getting to the end state that was agreed to by Trump and Kim in Singapore.

Pompeo did not say if he was bringing anything such as letters or gifts from Trump to Kim. "I am not bringing anything that we are prepared at this point to talk about publicly," he said.

--IANS

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