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As Trump visits State Department, Pompeo says North Korea must denuclearize

03 May 2018 02:55 (UTC +04:00)

North Korea must commit to dismantling its nuclear weapons program, new U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday as he formally took the reins of the State Department with a strong endorsement from U.S. President Donald Trump, APA reports quoting Reuters.

Trump made his first visit to the State Department, where he was greeted by loud applause from several hundred people gathered in the Benjamin Franklin dining room.

“That’s more spirit than I’ve heard from the State Department in a long time,” Trump joked, praising Pompeo’s credentials and record as CIA director.

Trump fired his first secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, in March after public disagreements over North Korea, Iran and Russia. The department had been sidelined on major foreign policy issues and shaken by the resignation of senior diplomats.

“I have no doubt that you will make America proud as our nation’s chief diplomat,” Trump told Pompeo before Vice President Mike Pence administered the oath in a ceremonial swearing in.

Pompeo, who secretly met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un over the Easter weekend, said North Korea must commit to immediately dismantling its weapons program, adding that efforts to denuclearize Pyongyang were still in the “beginning stages” and the outcomes “unknown.”