A new engine for an ICBM is tested at a test site at Sohae Space Center in North Korea
© Photo released by KCNA April 9, 2016 / ReutersA new engine for an ICBM is tested at a test site at Sohae Space Center in North Korea.
Pyongyang has reaffirmed its commitment to dismantle its missile engine test site, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, but American sanctions against the North will remain until there is "fully verified" denuclearization.

"North Korea reaffirmed its commitment to complete denuclearization," Pompeo said at the trilateral news conference in Tokyo, where he was joined by Japanese and South Korean officials. The US secretary of state was on a two-day visit to Pyongyang for high-level talks with Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party Central Committee.

The North also backed its earlier promises "to destroy its missile engine test site," according to Pompeo. Both US and North Korean officials discussed what full denuclearization would mean at the high-level talks, he said. "There will be a verification connected to the complete denuclearization."


However, Pompeo noted that punitive sanctions, which have been imposed on Pyongyang since 2008, will remain in place until "final, fully verified denuclearization."

The top US official also shrugged off Pyongyang's accusation of Washington's "gangster-like" demands on denuclearization, remarking that if he paid attention to every media report, he'd "go nuts." On Saturday, Pyongyang lambasted Washington, accusing it of seeking unilateral and forced denuclearization from North Korea.

"The US is fatally mistaken if it went to the extent of regarding that the [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] would be compelled to accept, out of its patience, the demands reflecting its gangster-like mindset," Pyongyang cautioned.


Comment: N. Korea regrets US attitude and unilateral denuclearization demands during Pompeo talks


Hours before the North's statement, Pompeo had claimed that progress had been made "on almost all of the central issues" in his talks with Pyongyang.

US President Donald Trump granted Kim Jong-un a number of concessions after a historic summit on June 12 in Singapore, promising to temporarily end bi-annual military exercises with South Korea. He also promised to remove sanctions "when we are sure that the nukes are no longer a factor." On his way home from Singapore, Trump declared that North Korea no longer posed a nuclear threat to the US.

However, in another twist of approach towards Kim - who Trump once called "Little Rocket Man" - the US administration renewed its sanctions on North Korea for another year. The move came shortly after the landmark summit, probably signaling a return to business as usual.