U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reacts as he disembarks from a plane upon his arrival at the Royal Malaysian Air Force base in Subang, outside Kuala Lumpur, Aug. 2, 2018.Pompeo is in Southeast Asia ahead of a major summit in Singapore, where it's possible he may meet with the North Korean Foreign Minister, according to a senior State Department official. The last first in-person meeting between the two sides was on July 27, according to a State Department official, who would not say whether that addressed denuclearization or the repatriation of remains.
But it would also be Pompeo's first meeting with North Korean officials since he visited Pyongyang at the beginning of July. Those two days of meetings ended without a one-on-one between Pompeo and Kim Jong Un, who instead was inspecting a potato farm, and with a blistering statement from North Korea that criticized the U.S.'s "robber-like" demands.
Still, since then, the two sides have had "constructive" conversations, according to State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert, which continue. The administration points to the destruction of some key facilities at the missile test site as a sign of success, saying Kim personally promised that to Trump in Singapore. But experts say the site could be easily reassembled and is no longer necessary for North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
While the development of new missiles or fissile material production has been conveyed as North Korea "cheating," it's unclear if that's what North Korea believes it agreed to at the Singapore summit. The State Department declined to say whether ICBM development would violate the declaration on Tuesday, but Pompeo told the Senate last week that North Korea agrees to the U.S.'s definition of "complete denuclearization," which includes their weapons systems.
But Jenny Town, an analyst with the North Korea watchers at 38 North, told ABC News Tuesday that North Korea never agreed to an immediate halt of all activity or to specifically shut down this site.
"The work that's being done is not work that's suddenly started," she added, noting that if North Korea ramped up a program or start something new, that would be cause for concern.
There are still no international inspectors on the ground in North Korea to monitor what is happening.
ABC News's Ben Gittleson contributed to this report.
Kaynak:Abcnews