Pompeo says he had a 'great, great visit' in North Korea

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shakes hands with South Korean President Moon Jae-in

(Image credit: Pool/Getty Images)

published 7 October 2018

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday touted the success of his trip to Pyongyang to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

"We had a great, great visit this morning. President Trump sends his regards. And we had a very successful morning, so thank you," Pompeo said through a translator after a two-hour meeting followed by a lunch. Kim responded in kind, declaring "a very nice day that promises a good future for both countries."

Pompeo's last trip to North Korea was in July, and Kim's regime denounced his "gangster-like demands" after he left. This time was "better than the last time," an unnamed State Department official told Reuters, but denuclearization negotiations still have a long way to go.

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After seeing Kim, Pompeo traveled to Seoul to meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha. He previously visited Japan on Saturday and will head to Beijing Monday to complete this Asian tour.

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.