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U.S. NEWS Saturday 26 May 2018

Korea summit after all? Trump says 'everybody plays games'

By CATHERINE LUCEY, ZEKE statement was "very good While the president did not when Trump withdrew from bled a working group at
MILLER AND MATTHEW PEN- news" and told reporters detail the nature of the the summit. Spokeswom- the CIA called the Korea
NINGTON that "we're talking to them new U.S. communication an Heather Nauert said Mission Center, which grad-
Associated Press now." with the North on Friday, Pompeo and South Ko- ually assumed the lead role
WASHINGTON (AP) — "Ev- Confident in his negotiating Defense Secretary Jim Mat- rean Foreign Minister Kang in talks with the North Kore-
erybody plays games," skills, Trump views the meet- tis said at the Pentagon: Kyung-wha reaffirmed ans, and the group's direc-
President Donald Trump ing as a legacy-defining op- "The diplomats are still at their "shared commitment tor, a retired senior CIA of-
declared Friday as he sug- portunity and has relished work on the summit, possi- to the denuclearization of ficial with deep experience
gested the potentially his- the press attention and the bility of a summit, so that is the Korean peninsula" and in the region, became the
toric North Korean summit speculation about a pos- very good news." He char- pledged to coordinate "in main U.S. interlocutor with
he had suddenly called off sible Nobel Peace Prize. acterized the recent back- all of their efforts to cre- Pyongyang.
might be getting back on He made a quick decision and-forth as the "usual give ate conditions for dialogue The group did not supplant
track. to accept the sit-down in and take." with North Korea." the State Department's tra-
His sights set on a meet- March, over the concerns Asked if White House aides The U.S. and North Korea ditional mode of communi-
ing that has raised hopes of many top aides, and will still travel to Singapore do not have formal diplo- cation with the North, which
for a halt in North Korea's has remained committed, this weekend to work on matic relations, complicat- is known as the "New York
nuclear weapons devel- even amid rising concerns logistics for the trip, White ing the task of communi- Channel" and involves U.S.
opment, Trump welcomed about the challenges he House spokeswoman Sarah cating between the two diplomats and their North
the North's conciliatory re- faces in scoring a positive Huckabee Sanders said, governments. Under the Korean counterparts post-
sponse to his Thursday let- agreement. "We'll see" and "We'll be Trump administration, the ed to the United Nations.
ter withdrawing from the Asked on Friday if the North ready, one way or the oth- CIA, where Pompeo served But it did play the major role
Singapore summit with Koreans were playing er." as director before becom- in organizing Pompeo's two
Kim Jong Un. Rekindling games with their communi- Secretary of State Mike ing secretary of state, has trips to Pyongyang, once
hopes as quickly as he had cations, Trump responded, Pompeo spoke Friday with taken an unusually promi- as CIA director and once
doused them, Trump said "Everybody plays games. a top official from South Ko- nent role in back-channel as secretary of state.
it was even possible the You know that better than rea, whose leaders had ap- negotiations. Trump's comments Friday
meeting could take place anybody." peared to be taken aback Pompeo last year assem- came after days of mixed
on the originally planned messages on the summit.
June 12 date. Trump, in his letter to Kim on
"They very much want to Thursday, objected specifi-
do it; we'd like to do it," he cally to a statement from
said. a top North Korean For-
The sweetening tone was eign Ministry official. That
just the latest change in statement referred to Vice
a roller-coaster game of President Mike Pence as
brinkmanship — talks about a "political dummy" for his
talks with two unpredict- comments on the North
able world leaders trading and said it was up to the
threats and blandishments. Americans whether they
On Thursday, White House would "meet us at a meet-
officials had noted that ing room or encounter
Trump had left the door us at nuclear-to-nuclear
open with a letter to Kim showdown." Trump then
that blamed "tremendous said from the White House
anger and open hostil- that a "maximum pressure
ity" by Pyongyang but also campaign" of economic
urged Kim to call him. sanctions and diplomatic
By Friday, North Korea is- isolation would continue
sued a statement saying it against North Korea — with
was still "willing to give the which the U.S. is technical-
U.S. time and opportunities" ly still at war — though he
to reconsider talks "at any A guard stands at the entrance of the north tunnel at North Korea's nuclear test site shortly before added that it was possible
time, at any format." Trump it was to be blown up in a media tour of dismantling the test site, at Punggye-ri, North Hamgyong the summit could still take
rapidly tweeted that the Province, North Korea, Thursday, May 24, 2018. (APTN via AP) place at some point.q