No Script

Please Wait...

Al-Ahed Telegram

North Korea Cancelled Mike Pence Meeting Last Minute

North Korea Cancelled Mike Pence Meeting Last Minute
folder_openUnited States access_time6 years ago
starAdd to favorites

Local Editor

North Korean officials "dangled" a historic meeting with the US vice-president Mike Pence during the Winter Olympics but pulled out at the last minute, the White House claimed on Tuesday.

North Korea Cancelled Mike Pence Meeting Last Minute

The face-to-face encounter in South Korea would have been the first between senior officials from the US President Donald Trump administration and Pyongyang, which are in a standoff over North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un's pursuit of nuclear missiles that threaten the US mainland.

"North Korea dangled a meeting in hopes of the vice-president softening his message, which would have ceded the world stage for their propaganda during the Olympics," said Pence's chief of staff, Nick Ayers.

But after Pence condemned human rights violations in North Korea and announced the toughest economic sanctions yet, the plan collapsed.

Ayers added: "This administration will stand in the way of Kim's desire to whitewash their murderous regime with nice photo-ops at the Olympics. Perhaps that's why they walked away from a meeting or perhaps they were never sincere about sitting down."

Among those that Pence was poised to meet on 10 February was Kim Jong-un's younger sister, Kim Yo-jong, and the nominal head of state, Kim Yong-nam.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

Comments