Pompeo’s Nuclear Talks With North Korea Abruptly Canceled

This week’s nuclear talks between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a high-ranking North Korean official have been called off indefinitely, with no reason having been given for the delay. In a statement early Wednesday, the State Department said Pompeo’s planned meeting with North Korea’s Kim Yong Chol—scheduled for Thursday in New York—would not go ahead and the two officials would meet at an undetermined point in the future “when our respective schedules permit.” The negotiating positions of both Washington and Pyongyang have hardened in recent weeks—the U.S. believes North Korea’s progress on nuclear disarmament has been too slow and Kim Jong Un wants the U.S. to ease up its sanctions against his country. “Ongoing conversations continue to take place,” said State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert.