North Korean official censures Pompeo for 'dangerous' remarks

A senior North Korean official has strongly denounced US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for his “stupid and dangerous” remarks last week that the US would “change paths” should diplomacy with Pyongyang not succeed.

On Tuesday, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said that Pompeo’s comments in an interview with CBS last week were "foolish and dangerous ideas that imply overthrowing our system with military.”

“This is a very stupid and dangerous idea of breaking down our system by using military methods as [the US] cannot break us down with the maximum pressure and economic blockade,” she said. “The ‘change of path’ mentioned by the US … is not a privilege that the US has but is our choice.”

“Our will to achieve denuclearization remains unchanged and we will denuclearize in due time, but it can be possible only under the condition that the US changes its current way of calculation and re-establish its stance,” official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) quoted her as saying

And if the US did not change its stance by the end of this year, it will "face (an) unwanted outcome," she said.

Speaking to CBS last Wednesday, Pompeo said he believed that the path to North Korea’s denuclearization would be “bumpy” and that the US would consider alternative solutions should “good faith negotiations” and “real conversations” break down.

Just days before, director general of the North foreign ministry’s Department of American Affairs Kwon Jong Gun called on US President Trump to remove Pompeo as his top nuclear negotiator. Accusing Pompeo of “self-indulgence” and “reckless remarks,” Kwon warned that Pyongyang would be reluctant to engage in dialogue with the US should they be led by Pompeo.

SS