'Insulting and ridiculous': Pompeo slams questions about Trump-Kim denuclearization statement

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday rejected observations that significant specifics are missing in the joint US-North Korea statement as a result of the summit between President Trump and Kim Jong-un, according to the Washington Post.

After being asked by a reporter about apparently-lacking denuclearization matters like verification and irreversibility, Pompeo said at an off-camera briefing in Seoul, “The modalities are beginning to develop. There will be a great deal of work to do. There’s a long way to go. There’s much to think about.”

“But don’t say silly things…It’s not productive,” he added.

Pompeo also described such inquiries as “insulting and ridiculous and frankly ludicrous.”

Prior to the summit, Pompeo had indicated a more specific desired outcome for the summit.

“The ultimate objective we seek from diplomacy with North Korea has not changed,” Pompeo said on Monday. “The complete and verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is the only outcome that the United States will accept.”

However, as CBS News notes, since the meeting, “the Trump administration has thus far been sparse on details of how denuclearization might be accomplished, let alone verified.”