In Singapore, Pompeo meets (and disputes) the press

Secretary Pompeo gave a press briefing on the status of negotiations with North Korea early this morning (our time). The video is below. His remarks anticipated the summit meeting tomorrow.

Pompeo devoted his prepared remarks (about five minutes) almost entirely to disputing a New York Times report that the United States lacks the technical expertise to verify North Korean denuclearization. I may be mistaken about this, but I think he’s referring to “The nine steps required to really disarm North Korea,” by William Broad, David Sanger and Troy Griggs in today’s paper.

Pompeo’s remarks alluded to negotiations preceding the summit tomorrow. They leave the possibility of failure open, but they seem to preface an agreement representing “a real success here.” As he says, “I’m optimistic that we will have a successful outcome” or words to that effect. He emphasizes verifiable denuclearization: “That’s what’s been missed before.”

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