North Korea Demands Pompeo's Removal From U.S. Nuclear Talks

North Korea Demands Pompeo's Removal From U.S. Nuclear TalksBy Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- North Korea demanded that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo be removed from direct nuclear negotiations between the countries, turning up pressure after a Hanoi summit between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump collapsed in February.

Kwon Jong Gun, a North Korean foreign ministry official, criticized Pompeo for interfering with relations in a report on its official KCNA news agency published Thursday. Pyongyang has blasted Pompeo on several occasions for backing what it called “gangster-like” negotiating tactics.

“I am afraid that, if Pompeo engages in the talks again, the table will be lousy once again and the talks will become entangled,” Kwon said. “Therefore, even in the case of possible resumption of the dialogue with the U.S., I wish our dialogue counterpart would be not Pompeo but other person who is more careful and mature in communicating with us.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Seyoon Kim in Seoul at skim7@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Daniel Ten Kate

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