The Trump administration, in line with what had happened during the US-North Korea summit in June, had sent Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over to continue talks with the North Korean government. So far, it's yielded very little in terms of results.
Reuters says that part of those talks is the repatriation of remains as well as denuclearization. However, Pompeo claims that it would take a pretty long time before the talks bear results. Trump was positive, however, that the North Korean government would hold its end of the bargain. The US president said he had full trust in the North Korean administration and in Kim Jong Un, who would spearhead the disarmament of weaponized nuclear warheads.
Part of that confidence may be because of Russian President Vladimir Putin's involvement. At a Helsinki meeting this week, Putin promised to broker talks with North Korea about their promises to the US. The Russian president didn't clear up exactly how he would do that, however.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo went on the trip carrying a positive vibe that he would be able to get good results. CBC reports that Pompeo had a heavy task ahead of him-dispel rumors that Kim was not serious about committing to denuclearization and that he wasn't willing to give in to requests from the US concerning POW remains, among others.
North Korea, for its part, welcomed Mike Pompeo with Kim Yong-chol, a senior party official, and Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho meeting him upon arrival. Pompeo began his visit with a series of talks with Kim Yong-chol.
After the visit, however, it was clear nothing was going to be simple about the US-North Korea talks. Pompeo left without any concrete results from the meeting. The only news coming out was Pyongyang issuing a statement that his visit was not in the best interests of the North Korean government; that his delegation behaved unruly.
Trump was still positive, saying things like there being "no time limit" to when North Korea will make good on its promise. However, sanctions that were initially in place before the talks remained there.
