North Korea has demanded that US State Secretary Mike Pompeo should be removed, charged with ‘ speaking absurdly ‘ and ‘ recklessly. ‘
Senior Foreign Minister official has said that if Mr Pompeo is involved, further talks would be “lousy” and asked to be replaced by somebody who is more careful
It comes after North Korea said that a “tactic guided weapon” had been tested.
This is the first test since the country leaders concluded a February summit in Hanoi without agreement.
Four times last year, Mr Pompeo visited Korea, including North Korean leader Kim Jong – un for a meeting.
Why is Pompeo so contentious?
Mr Pompeo was asked last week, during a hearing with the U.S. Senate, whether he would agree to Mr Kim’s descriptions as a ‘ tyrant ‘ then answered, ‘ Sure, I’m certain I said this. ‘
The reaction of the official Kwon Jong – gun of North Korea was strong, saying that Pompeo ‘ spoke recklessly, hurt the dignity of our high leadership … to reveal its mean character. ‘
Mr Kwon also accused Mr Pompeo of having abruptly ended the Hanoi Summit.
He said on Thursday that if Mr Pompeo was to participate in further talks, ‘ the table would again be lousy and the talks would become intertwined.
“I would like our counterpart for dialog to be not Pompeo, even if dialog with the U.S. could resume,” Kwon said, according to a Central News Agency of Korea (KCNA). “We want [ another ] person who is more attentive and mature when communiquing with us.”
Mr Pompeo was condemned during discussions held in Pyongyang in July because of his insistence that the country should be moving towards denuclearization.
A ‘ new weapon ‘ test
State media have given few details on a new “tactic – guided weapon” reported Thursday, but analysts say that a return to long – haul missile testing as seen as a threat to the United States is unlikely.
Mr Kim himself supervised the test, according to KCNA. The tests were performed “in various firing modes at different targets,” meaning that the weapons could be launched from land, sea or the air. The analysts believed.
While it is not clear if the weapon was a missile it is probably a short – range weapon that most observers agree. Mr Kim said last year he would stop nuclear testing and stop launching intercontinental missiles.
Nuclear activity appears nevertheless to continue and satellite images showed movements last week at the main North Korean nuclear site, suggesting the country might reprocess radioactive material into bomb fuel.
The country claims to have created a nuclear bomb that is small enough to fit a long – range rocket and ballistic missiles that might reach the United States.
