Pompeo warns Russia, China on flouting N Korea sanctions

Bloomberg

US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo warned against easing up on sanctions until North Korea gives up its nuclear weapons, drawing a rebuke from the regime that underscored how far apart the two sides remain almost two months after their leaders met in Singapore.
Back in Singapore for a regional security forum, Pompeo on Saturday called out Russia and China, highlighting reports that they are violating United Nations Security Council resolutions restricting trade with North Korea.
“We expect the Russians and all countries to abide by the UN Security Council resolutions and enforce sanctions on North Korea,” Pompeo said. “Any violation that detracts from the world’s goal of finally fully denuclearizing North Korea would be something that America would take very seriously.”
Nonetheless, Pompeo said he remains “optimistic that we will get this done.” In a later tweet, Pompeo said he had a “quick, polite exchange” with North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, adding that the US delegation delivered a reply from President Donald Trump to a letter that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent to him earlier in the week.
Shortly after Pompeo flew out of Singapore after the meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Ri read out a statement that set a far more confrontational tone and challenged the US position that North Korea won’t get sanctions relief until it disarms.
The statement, similar to one that North Korea issued last month hours after Pompeo met North Korean officials in Pyongyang, accused the US of demanding too much without offering anything in return and repeated the North Korean demand for “simultaneous actions” by the two sides.
“Impatience is not helpful at all for building confidence,” Ri said in the statement that was distributed to reporters. “Especially, advancing unilateral demands will further deepen mistrust instead of reviving trust.”
State Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the North Korean statement.

Mixed Messages
Since Trump met Kim in June, his administration has sought to show North Korea is moving towards giving up its nuclear weapons even as a steady stream of news reports say work is continuing on illicit programs. The mixed messages have undermined US attempts to pressure North Korea, which hasn’t committed to a specific timetable for giving up its weapons. While Pompeo has previously insisted that the bulk of North Korea’s denuclearization would take place within Trump’s first term, the statement from Ri suggested North Korea wants a longer time frame, citing a “Korean proverb which says ‘slow but surely’.”
After their summit in Singapore, the US and North Korea agreed to four steps: establishing a new relationship, build a “lasting and stable peace regime,” work towards denuclearization, and return the remains of US soldiers from the Korean War. In the statement, Ri accused the US of focusing too much on the latter two points and ignoring the first two. He also said the US was pressuring other countries not to attend celebrations in September to mark the 70th anniversary of the Asian country’s founding.

Haley slams Russia over report on North Korea work permits
Bloomberg

The US envoy to the United Nations criticized Russia for allegedly continuing to issue work permits for North Koreans in violation of international sanctions.
Ambassador Nikki Haley said “credible reports” about the work visas are the latest example of Moscow appearing to ease up on a sanctions regime approved by the UN Security Council last year in an effort to halt North Korea’s nuclear and missile program. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that at least 700 new work permits have been issued this year, and that some of the companies hiring the workers are joint ventures with North Korean entities. “Talk is cheap—Russia cannot support sanctions with their words in the Security Council only to violate them with their actions,” Haley said in a statement on Friday. “Until we see the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea there can be no easing of sanctions.”