US hopes North Korea will become close partner, Pompeo says

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is greeted by senior North Korean official Kim Yong Chul, director of the United Front Department, which is responsible for North-South Korea affairs (left), and Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong, on his arrival in Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday, May 9, 2018. (AP)

WASHINGTON: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the United States aspires to have North Korea as a “close partner” and not an enemy.
Pompeo says he told North Korean leader Kim Jong Un of that hope when he visited Pyongyang earlier this week to finalize details of the upcoming summit between Kim and President Donald Trump and to secure the release of three imprisoned Americans.
The secretary of state says he made clear to Kim that if North Korea gets rid of its nuclear weapons in a permanent and verifiable way, the US is willing to help the impoverished nation boost its economy and living stands to levels like those in prosperous South Korea.
Pompeo spoke Friday at a joint news conference with South Korea’s visiting foreign minister.