Reuters: U.S. seeks 'concrete actions' from North Korea before planned talks
U.S. President Donald Trump will not meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un unless Pyongyang takes “concrete actions,” the White House said on Friday as it faced criticism for agreeing to talks that would give North Korea international legitimacy.
“The president will not have the meeting without seeing concrete steps and concrete actions take place by North Korea, so the president will actually be getting something,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told a news briefing.
Sanders did not specify what actions North Korea needed to take, and a White House official later said she was not intending to set new conditions for talks with Kim.
But the comments were a sign that an end to a standoff between the two countries over North Korea’s nuclear weapon program is not imminent.
The United States has long said it wants any talks to aim at Pyongyang abandoning its nuclear weapons and missile programs.
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