It seems clear that North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho does not like U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, calling him a “diehard toxin of the U.S. diplomacy” adding that he employs “hackneyed sanctions rhetoric.” The criticism came in a series of interviews reported by Reuters, wherein Ri blamed Pompeo instead of President Donald Trump for the stalemate on denuclearization talks between the two nations. Ri had previously requested Pompeo be replaced as the chief negotiator with someone more “mature.” Ri was responding to recent comments by Pompeo that sanctions on North Korea would not be lifted until concrete progress was made. “If the U.S. still dreams a pipe dream of gaining everything through sanctions, we are left with two options, either to leave it enjoying the dream to its heart’s content or to wake it up from the dream.”