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After a cordial and relaxed first meeting on Friday night, a little more tension was on display Saturday morning as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met again with North Korean leaders on a trip to Pyongyang meant to hammer out details from President Donald Trump‘s summit last month.
Pompeo and Kim Yong Chol, dictator Kim Jong Un’s top adviser and North Korea’s former spy chief, exchanged pleasantries before the second meeting between the two countries. Pompeo didn’t seem all too pleased with Kim’s forwardness, however.
Kim asked Pompeo if had slept well, to which Pompeo said he had.
“We did have very serious discussion on very important matters yesterday,” Kim said, through a translator. “So thinking about those discussions you might have not slept well last night.”
Pompeo actually corrected him to say that he did sleep well: “Director Kim, I slept just fine.”
The Associated PressKim said he heard Pompeo was “quite pleased” with the two sides’ first meeting, but dropped a warning that “there are things that I have to clarify.”
Pompeo responded in kind, “There are things that I have to clarify as well.”
When asked about the tension between the two, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said, “There’s a lot of hard work to be done. We never thought it was going to be easy.”
Nauert told reporters that the two sides spoke during a dinner following their two hour and 45 minute meeting Friday night and they were “cracking jokes” and “exchanging pleasantries.”
APShe wouldn’t characterize Friday’s discussions beyond saying they addressed denuclearization and the repatriation of American remains, saying, “We expect them to live up to their commitments.”
She stressed that U.S. policy hasn’t changed, but did not explain why they’re not using the phrase “complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization” — a phrase Pompeo himself used leading up to the historic summit between Kim Jong Un and Trump in Singapore on June 12.
Downtown Pyongyang: Most people traveled in packs. Even wearing similar clothing. I could count the number of cars on the streets but didn’t see a single anti-American poster. Our handler from the foreign ministry said “We’re doing negotiations so the posters reflect that.” pic.twitter.com/ss2CDC67Ys
— Tara Palmeri (@tarapalmeri) July 7, 2018
Nauert said “progress was made” in the meetings Saturday morning, and Pompeo was expected to have more meetings in the afternoon.
Every element of the Singapore agreement was covered in the meetings, from security assurances to reparations, Nauert said.
ABC News’ Mark Osborne contributed to this report.
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