MIKE POMPEO/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday [7-5-18] will leave for North Korea to engage in the first high-level talks on eliminating Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and programs since the Singapore summit in June, U.S. officials said. The trip comes amid growing concerns that Washington and Pyongyang may not share the same goals on the pace and scope of efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and reports that North Korea is proceeding with its weapons programs. Mr. Pompeo has said the U.S. hopes to achieve major disarmament of North Korea’s nuclear programs in the next 2½ years. National-security adviser John Bolton on Sunday [7-1-18] said a year should be sufficient to dismantle much of Pyongyang’s nuclear, chemical, biological and ballistic-missile programs. Administration officials have warned that relief from punishing sanctions that have been imposed on North Korea won’t come until those actions have been taken.”
–Michael R. Gordon, “Pompeo to Visit North Korea Again, With a View Toward Denuclearization,” The Wall Street Journal, July 2, 2018 6:18 pm