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Pompeo: US Hopes for Denuclearization of Korean Peninsula Within 2.5 Years

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States hopes to achieve complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula in two-and-a-half years, ABC News reported on Wednesday.
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Pompeo said during his visit in Seoul on Wednesday that the United States hopes North Korea will denuclearize by the end of US President Donald Trump’s first term of presidency, ABC News reported.

"Major disarmament… We're hopeful that we can achieve that in the two and half years," he stated, adding that there is "a lot of work left to do".

Pompeo underscored that the agreement signed on Tuesday by Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un includes verifiable and irreversible denuclearization.

"Let me assure you that 'complete' encompasses verifiable in the minds of everyone concerned. One can't completely denuclearize without validating, authenticating," he said.

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The US top official defended Trump’s decision to unilaterally stop US military exercises with South Korea near the Korean peninsula by saying that the halt will only last as long as North Korea is participating in productive and good-faith negotiations.

The statements followed Tuesday's historic summit between Trump and Kim in Singapore, which resulted in the sides signing a final document that includes an agreement to establish new bilateral relations between the United States and North Korea as well as join efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean peninsula.

READ MORE: Why Do Mainstream Media Hate Trump's Triumph?

Moreover, North Korea reaffirmed under the terms of the agreement its commitment to denuclearize the Korean peninsula while the United States pledged to provide security guarantees.

Commenting on the results of the meeting upon his arrival in Washington, Donald Trump assured that the world could "sleep well" as both countries decided not to play "war games".

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