On Thursday, the North Korean Foreign Ministry issued a statement demanding that the US withdraw Secretary of State Mike Pompeo from future negotiations, asking that the US replace him with someone “more careful and mature.”



The spokesman said that wherever Pompeo “pokes his nose in,” the talks go wrong, adding that he worries if Pompeo is back at the talks, “the table will be lousy once again.” Officials added they welcome talks with the US, just with some not-Pompeo officials.



This isn’t the first time North Korea has expressed disquiet about a US negotiator. Earlier it was centered on the notoriously undiplomatic John Bolton. North Korea has also emphasized that they like to deal with Trump directly.



But Pompeo has been deeply involved in the talks since before he became Secretary of State, becoming the highest ranking official to ever visit North Korea as CIA Director early in the process.



Pompeo’s recent attitude on talks between the US and North Korea has been dismissive, and he has argued North Korea has already committed to everything that the US wanted without getting sanctions relief, and the US expects them to comply with the demands.





Author: Jason Ditz Jason Ditz is news editor of Antiwar.com. View all posts by Jason Ditz