폼페이오 "북한과의 협상 재개 희망"…'두어주 안에' 언급

North Korea has been firing off missile after missile over the past couple of weeks,... but this behavior has done little to dampen Washington's enthusiasm for holding talks with the regime.
In fact,... U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday that he's hopeful the two sides will resume negotiations sooner rather than later.
Lee Seung-jae reports.
Speaking to reporters at the U.S. State Department on Wednesday,... Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says he's confident the U.S. and North Korea will resume denuclearization negotiations in the coming weeks.
"President Trump's and this administration strategy with respect to North Korea haven't changed. Our effort is to achieve the full final denuclearization of North Korea. We are hopeful that in the coming weeks we'll get back to the negotiating table to achieve that."
Pompeo's optimism comes despite North Korea conducting four short-range ballistic missile tests over the past couple of weeks in protest over ongoing joint military exercises between Seoul and Washington.
According to the top U.S. diplomat,... as long as the North doesn't test nuclear weapons or ICBMs,... the Trump administration is generally content.
"We watch the actions that they're taking, the actions that are taking place inside of North Korea. And we are mindful that when we came in, there there was nuclear testing taking place that has not occurred. There aren't long range missiles being fired. Those are both good things. Now the task is for us to deliver on what the two leaders agreed to back in June of last year in Singapore."
The leaders of North Korea and the U.S. agreed to resume working-level denuclearization talks when they met at the inter-Korean border in June.
However,... the talks have yet to take place,... despite earlier expectations they would restart in mid-July.
Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.